Embarrassment
by ImaginaryGirlxx
Summary: Harry and Nikki have a drunken one night stand and have to live with the consequences. Awful summary. This is my first fic so please be nice, I know it's really bad but would like to know how to improve. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclamer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to the BBC.**

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Nikki, happy birthday to you!" Harry sang as his best friend walked over to his desk, signalled for him to move and sat herself down on his chair.

"But it's not my birthday." Stated Nikki, confused.

"Well I know but Leo has decided to take us all out for drinks tonight as its Friday so I thought we should celebrate. What better excuse than your birthday!" He grinned, as if he had just come up with the most brilliant plan in the universe.

"You're insane."

"But you love me for it" Harry winked as a ball of screwed up paper hit his head. "Hey! What was that for? I even let you sit at _my_ desk today"

Just then Leo shouted from his office, obviously being about to see the pair. "I know we are going out tonight but that doesn't give you an excuse not to work. If anything you should be working double as hard to pay me back"

Nikki giggled at the look Harry gave Leo once his back had turned. After regaining her composure, she attempted to turn the topic of conversation back to work and said, rather loudly so that her boss could hear: "So, have you found out any more about out latest John Doe?"

"Urmm... not sure yet but I think the cause of death was the blow to the head, but we'll have to wait for the tox results"

"Still not got a name for him?" She asked, and Harry shook his head.

"No but I have a feeling that DI Marson will want to drag this case out as long as possible. He fancies the pants off of you!"

Just as Nikki was about to throw a second paper ball in less than 10 minutes at Harry's head, they heard the phone ringing in Leo's office. Hoping for a new case to get them out of doing paperwork for the rest of the afternoon they rushed over to outside the door and attempted to act nonchalant whilst their boss took the call.

Leo walked out of the office, rolling his eyes at their childishness, and held a post-it note with details of the latest scene on up in the air and waved it about. When they eventually shut up he asked who wanted to take it, even though it was quite clear they were both absolutely desperate.

"Harry you can take this one." He said, after a lot of pleading from both of his younger co-workers. Nikki pouted and Harry stuck his tongue out at her. "Don't look at me like that!" The older man said in response to Nikki's best 'puppy-dog' look "You got the last one"

"Fine" she said as she stormed off back to the desk she was sitting at before, which (of course) was Harry's.

Leo returned to his office wondering how two people could get so excited over someone dying. Admittedly it was part of their job, which he knew they both (albeit rather secretly in Harry's case) enjoyed, but he was still a bit worried about their enthusiasm. Well, at least they were happy, he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Uploading first two chapters now so that you can get a feel for the story and you can have something to review. Would love to know if you think its worth continuing.**

A few hours later they were at the pub, already on their fourth round of drinks and getting ever so slightly tipsier by the minute. However, Leo knew that he couldn't drink too much as he had to go to Janet's brother's for a family meal the following day and knew from past experience that he wouldn't be able to survive if he had a massive hangover.

Deciding that he had had enough, he announced to his friends that he was leaving and, after being called 'boring' and 'an old man' and various other names by Harry, called for a taxi home.

Whilst waiting for the cab to turn up, he reasoned that this was his friends may actually get together. Even though he knew that they would regret it if it happened while they were drunk, he had tried everything else possible to get them to realise their feeling for each other and he was seriously running out of options.

Back in the pub, a now very drunk Nikki was attempting to tell Harry about an incident in South Africa which she thought was particularly funny.

"So, she said... she said..." Nikki slurred, as she burst out into yet another fit of giggles. Finally realising that she would never be able to finish her story coherently she decided to kick off her shoe and run her foot up Harry's leg, who had just at that moment gulped back another sip of wine.

Spluttering, he spat his drink out and, much to his best friend's amusement, started to blush.

"What did you do that for?"

"What did I do what for, Harry?" She replied, as innocently as possible.

"That! With the foot and the... and the... wait, was there anything else?" He asked, confused.

"You look funny!" Nikki stated due to the look on Harry's face. "Sort of like a, how can I describe it, lost hedgehog!"

Harry tried to act offended, which was hard as he was in fits of laughter.

Instead he replied: "You're drunk!"

"So are you." Nikki pointed out. "You both also have a big red splash on your shirts. Wait, since when did you have a twin?" She slurred, the realised she was seeing double in her alcohol-induced state.

After a few more rounds of drinks (and half a bottle of vodka shots between them) they staggered out of the pub and started walking towards Harry's apartment.

Despite the amount of stumbling and giggling, they eventually got there and Nikki, who had been half way through her second attempt of telling Harry her funny story, looked up in confusion.

"This isn't my house." She stated. "My house is over there!"

Nikki's finger was pointing unsteadily in the opposite direction to where she lived and was still like that when Harry had, after much trouble, unlocked his front door.

"You know something, you look incredibly beautiful tonight." Harry mused, when Nikki walked into his flat. She blushed as his hand came to her face and tucked a bit of hair behind her ears, which soon fell back to its original position.

"Shut up" She replied, embarrassed.

"It's true."

"No one ever calls me beautiful" She replied, sadly. "I'm always 'nice' or 'fit'. I don't want to be that. I like being 'beautiful'."

"I like you being beautiful too." He pressed a gentle kiss on her lips and was slightly surprised when she responded by deepening it. When they finally broke apart both friends were smiling. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"I'm guessing about five years?" Nikki said, feeling equally as happy as Harry.

"Okay maybe you do..." He replied as Nikki started to work on the zip of his jeans.

Not once considering the consequences they quickly made a start on taking each other's clothes off and stumbled into the bedroom without a second thought about how they would feel about it in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to lilypad1 and Immortal Spud Thief for reviewing. It means a lot :)**

When Nikki awoke the next morning she was conscious of someone's arm wrapped around her waist and that person breathing heavily in their sleep. Opening her eyes, she could see the sunlight beaming through the gap in the curtains.

'Shit!' she thought. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to do this again. No more one-night-stands to attempt to get over Harry. They only kissed once and it was years ago but that was enough. Enough to make her realised her feelings for him. She loved him. Simple as that.

But it wasn't simple, not in the slightest. He didn't feel that way about her. That much was obvious. If he did he wouldn't have pretending that the kiss never happened as soon as his ex-girlfriend turned up. Okay she was dead but Nikki was still jealous of the attention she was getting. She knew it wasn't normal but she couldn't help it.

The man beside her stirred. There was defiantly no chance she would be able to sneak out now. Even if she did get out of the bed she had an entire unfamiliar house to look through to find her clothes and no idea how to get home.

"Morning" Came a voice from behind her.

* * *

Harry woke up to a mess of blonde hair over his pillow and probably the biggest hangover known to mankind. His head was throbbing and the strong, flowery scent of the woman in front of his was overpowering.

That smell... he knew it from somewhere but in his half asleep, self-pitying state he couldn't quite place it.

Looking around a bit more he was pleased to find that he was at least in his own bedroom. He decided to see if the mysterious naked woman in his bed was awake so whispered a quiet greeting of "Morning" as he stretched out his tired muscles.

**Sorry it's a short chapter I just wanted to get their thoughts in before they realise who it is. Please let me know what you think.  
**

**Georgie xx  
**


	4. Chapter 4

"Morning" Said Harry as he stretched out in the bed, being careful of the woman next to him.

"Morning" Came the reply and Nikki rolled over only to come face to face with her best friend.

To an onlooker, their faces would've been the funniest sight ever but it was becoming increasingly clear that neither of them were amused in the slightest.

Nikki felt she had spent so long trying to hide her feelings (and knew nothing of the fact that Harry had been doing exactly the same) that she was starting to get incredibly angry. Angry at herself for being such an idiot, angry at Harry for sleeping with her and even angry at Leo for leaving them there at the pub, which happened to be about the last thing she remembered. 'Wow, I must've had a lot to drink after that then' she thought.

Realising that she was completely naked, Nikki self-consciously pulled up the duvet in an attempt to hide herself from Harry, who she knew had now seen everything but hoped he wouldn't remember it.

No one said anything for ages as they stared at each other in shock, mentally cursing themselves for being so stupid.

Harry was the first to break the silence.

"Did we... I mean... we didn't, did we?"

"What do you think?" Nikki retorted, angrily, and pulled the covers up further around herself so that Harry's legs were now a little less covered.

"Hey, don't get mad at me. From the little I remember of last night you were all too willing as well." Harry said, raising his voice slightly. They both winced slightly at the pain the loud noise had caused their throbbing heads.

"Look it was a mistake. A stupid, drunken mistake."

"Oh that's nice. Really making me feel better Niks." He replied, the sarcasms clear as day in his voice.

"Let's just forget about it okay?"

"Fine by me" And with that, Harry stormed out of his bedroom, grabbing his discarded jeans from last night on the way. He slammed the door shut and then realised that there really was nothing else he could do. He couldn't exactly go back in there and Nikki wasn't likely to come out with him still there.

Deciding to give her a bit of time, he walked into his kitchen and started to make himself a cup of coffee, in an attempt to help his hangover. He couldn't take anything for it as everything was in his bathroom cabinet in the en-suite and going in there would lead him face-to-face with Nikki again.

She was right, he thought, it was a mistake and now he'd probably ruined their friendship forever. Of course he wanted to be with Nikki. He loved her. He couldn't imagine life without her. Why did he have to be so stupid? This was really going to put unnecessary strain on their friendship which was hard enough for Harry as he thought his feelings towards her were unrequited. It was an exquisite pain, just like she had said.

* * *

Nikki was sat on Harry's bed, sobbing quietly. She knew it was a mistake, even though last night she did something that she had wanted to do for so long. Harry didn't feel the same way about her. Things were going to be awkward from now on. She knew it. Work, especially, would be a nightmare as there would be no escape from him. And now he'd gone out of the bedroom and she knew that, in order to get out of the house and back home, she would have to face him. It's not like she could sneak out without him noticing. Harry's not stupid. It's a shame really, she mused, because I feel pretty stupid right now.

After realising that there was no other option, Nikki grabbed the shirt Harry was wearing yesterday off the floor and put it on, in order to be covered up enough for the hunt for her clothes. She opened the bedroom door to find Harry stood there, about to do exactly the same.

Despite the shock of seeing him there, Nikki couldn't help but look down at his naked, muscular torso. There was that awkward moment where Harry moved to his left just as Nikki moved to her right. They did the same again in reverse and, realising they were going to get nowhere, Harry gently put his hands on the top of Nikki's arms and moved her round him so that she could leave the room.

As Harry's hands touched her, Nikki was sure she felt a little tingle on her skin. She mentally scolded herself for thinking it and walked on, putting it out of her mind as best she could.

**I know there's not much dialouge in this chapter I just wanted to see what they thought now before I get them to talk about it. Updates won't be this frequent usually its just I'm making the most of having free time and no homework for once. Please review, I'll write quicker and you may even get a third chapter today.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Big hugs to Charlotte88 and Immortal Spud Thief for reviewing the past two chapters. Not sure how much they are in character in this chapter, especially towards the end. Please let me know how I can improve. Thanks :)**

Nikki vowed to get out of Harry's apartment as quickly as possible and back to her own home to spend her day off with a nice big tub of Ben and Jerry's and her new crime novel, in an attempt to drown out all thoughts of her colleague (who, she supposed, was still her best friend and she hoped that they would be able to get through this eventually) and prey that there would be no major crime scenes for the rest of the weekend that Leo desperately needed her help on.

This escape plan did, however, have one fatal flaw. She couldn't find her underwear anywhere! It didn't help that Harry didn't appear to know the meaning of the word 'tidy', something which she already knew from the many evenings she had spent watching a DVD curled up on his sofa with a glass of wine and a takeaway.

She heard a cough behind her and Harry was stood by the coffee table pointing at the floor. "Looking for these?" he asked "They could be useful for the next couple of hours until you find yet another 'Mr Unsuitable' who wants to get into them"

"Shut up. At least my 'unsuitable' partners are around my age." She retorted, embarrassed by the fact that Harry had now seen her underwear whilst sober as well. However, she was secretly pleased that they were her new favourite red lacy ones, much like the bra he had seen all those years ago.

"I'm pretty sure DI Marson is at least 10 years older than you."

"But he's not my boyfriend"

"Not what I heard from Nigel"

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Nikki yelled, throwing a cushion from his sofa at him, which missed.

"I wouldn't care if he was. What I want to know is why you care so much if I think you are with him or not."

"I don't. Now can I use your bathroom to get changed so that I can go home?"

"Come on I've already seen everything." Harry joked, trying to lighten the mood. He hated arguing with Nikki and wanted things to be back the way they were.

If looks could kill...

Harry immediately regretted what he said and, realising that it was still way too soon to joke about the night before, moved out the way so that Nikki could grab her underwear from under the coffee table and get changed.

Once dressed, Nikki walked back into Harry's front room to find him sitting on the sofa, looking so lost. The lost hedgehog, she remembered. As if he could feel her eyes watching him, Harry turned round and gave her a weak smile.

"You can let yourself out. I'll see you on Monday."

"Okay then, bye." She replied, silently hoping that they would be able to get past this awkward stage and forget it ever happened.

"Oh, and one more thing." He said, just as she was about to walk out the door. "Can we just keep this between us and try and get back to normal. Please."

He sounded so heartbroken. Nikki couldn't bear to see him like this and hoped they could get back to how they were. Although it seemed like an impossible task at the moment, she was determined to make it work, eventually. The other thing she was certain about was that she also wanted to last night a secret and still hated herself for letting it happen.

She was ashamed. She'd managed to sleep with the man she loved and for some reason couldn't feel worse.

"Do you really think I want Leo or anyone knowing we slept together?" Nikki asked, rhetorically. "I'll see you at work."

And with that, Harry was alone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Just a short chapter from Nikki's perspective. Let me know if you like this one and I may write more throughout the story. I'm not sure but I think it fite quite well here.**

After finishing a whole tub of Ben and Jerry's ice cream, I moved on to a giant bar or Galaxy chocolate. Why was this affecting me so much? I don't know. Normally, after a bad day I would have half a tub of ice cream at the most. Damn Harry. If I get fat it's his fault.

Did I want to sleep with Harry? Yes.

Have I always wanted to sleep with Harry? Yes.

Do I want to be in a relationship with Harry? Yes. No. Oh I don't know. It's all too confusing at the moment.

The killer question: Am I in love with Harry? I think so. I've never felt like this about anyone before. The way he can make me smile. How I can come to him for help with anything. The way I get tingles all over my body when he touches me, like in the doorway earlier. The way he seems to creep into my thoughts every second of every day without warning. Yes. I think I do love him.

Shit. That only makes things a whole lot harder.

What about work? How are we going to continue on as normal after last night? We couldn't even have one normal conversation this morning. And Leo's not stupid. He's bound to notice the tension between us. I bet even the lab techs and police will notice. How are we going to explain that? Pull a sicky? No, what is Harry does the same. That will be suspicious. Try and avoid him? Our desks are right next to each other. Act like everything is normal? It'll be hard, but I think at the moment that seems like my only option.

One more question: Why is there never enough chocolate in my house when I need it?


	7. Chapter 7

Monday morning. The first time Harry and Nikki would see each other since 'the morning after'. Both parties filled with equal dread at the prospect of finally having to face up to the possibility that they have effectively ruined their friendship.

Nikki had set her alarm extra early to give herself plenty of time to get ready. She wanted to prove to Harry that it hadn't affected her in any way (despite the numerous chocolate wrappers, ice cream tubs and tissues in her bin – not that he would ever know about them). Her nerves had caused her to wake up in the middle of the night. Feeling unsettled and unprepared, she decided on her outfit for work: her favourite dark skinny jeans, long black boots and her new top that she felt flattered her figure. When she finally fell asleep again it was restless and she found herself awake and in the shower by the time her alarm went off.

A new week means a new start. And that means a new diet. She was feeling guilty about the amount of junk she had consumed over the weekend so instead of her usual sugary breakfast she decided to make herself a smoothie.

After about an hour and a half spent perfecting her hair and make-up, she figured she was as ready as she would ever be and drove to work.

Harry, on the other hand, grabbed the nearest pair of jeans, t-shirt and trainers and was out of the house, toast in hand, in 11 minutes flat. It was usually only 10 but he had made an effort and brushed his hair this morning.

* * *

As he only took 11 minutes to get ready, Harry was at work before Nikki and, therefore, already at his desk when she walked in.

'Wow' he thought, caught slightly off guard at how amazing she looked. What Harry didn't realise was that he had been staring at her with his mouth open the whole time it took for her to walk over to her desk (for once), sit down and make a start on some of her paperwork.

It was only when Leo coughed loudly from behind him (and Harry was sure he heard a little chuckle after it as well) that he stopped staring and got to work on his own, ever-increasing pile of paperwork. It was at times like these that he would make a joke about something and Nikki would start laughing and they would never get anything productive done. It had only been about 20 minutes and he was already missing how it used to be.

The rest of the morning was spent exactly like that. The two pathologists working silently on the one part of their job that they really despised. This was when Leo started to become suspicious. 'Why were they doing paperwork? That's not like them. They usually spent half the day being persuaded to do it and the other half joking around with each other and wasting time.' He thought to himself. Not that he was complaining, he was personally glad for a bit of peace and quiet after spending the weekend with Janet's family (including three noisy, young children). Sighing, he sat back down and got on with his own work. He had realised long ago that he would never understand his younger co-workers and their little fights.

**Let me know what you think of this chapter. They should start talking to each other in the next chapter but don't hold me to it. I didn't even know they were going to be silent so I honestly have no idea where this will go next - all I know is where we will end up in a few chapters. Thanks for reading :)**

**Georgie xx**


	8. Chapter 8

The next few days passed in pretty much the same manner. Harry and Nikki said a grand total of 38 words between them and they were all to do with work. It was driving them both mad but neither wanted to be the first one to bring up what happened on Friday.

Between them they had managed to catch up on all of their paperwork and were up to date for the first time in about two years. There were no new cases and they were only waiting on the tox reports for two other bodies.

Although the silence was nice at first, Leo felt that he would soon go mad if they didn't start talking and decided to take matters into his own hands so he called Nikki into his office. He knew that he would never get anything out of Harry but Nikki looked up to Leo like a father so he assumed this would be the easiest way of finding out what was wrong and fixing it. They always had little argument, though never usually as bad as this, and Leo knew they would be able to get past it; they just needed a little help.

"Leo, how can I help? Please say there's a really interesting case. I'm going out of my mind with boredom."

"I'm afraid not, sorry."

"Well then what did you want to talk to me about?" Nikki questioned, even though she already had a pretty good idea.

"Okay since you asked I'm going to get straight to the point. What is going on between you and Harry? You've barely spoken to each other all week and you are even up to date on paperwork."

"There's nothing going on, Leo." She replied, not looking her boss in the eyes.

"I'm not stupid. Now I don't mind if you don't want to tell me but if you don't start patching things up with Harry I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands." Leo said with his voice ever so slightly raised. In a quieter tone he continued: "I just hate seeing you two upset."

"Thanks for your concern Leo but I can assure you that there really is nothing going on."

"If you insist." He sighed. " You can get back to work now."

"What work? There is nothing to do."

Leo just looked at her and she could tell he meant sort things out with Harry. 'Well,' thought Nikki, as she walked out of her boss' office. 'He's going to be disappointed then because there is no way I'm making the first move.'

* * *

Deciding that he had had enough of the silence, Harry swallowed his pride and attempted to start a conversation with his best friend when she walked back over to her desk.

"What was that about?" He asked, trying to find some common ground.

"Nothing." Nikki replied shortly, signalling that it was the end of the conversation as far as she was concerned.

Harry gave in for a while and decided to try again later.

* * *

Nikki was in the middle of drawing the third butterfly on the piece of paper she had been doodling on for the past two and a half hours, each one getting more and more detailed, when she heard Leo calling her name and asking her to come to the cutting room. She had been so engrossed in her drawing that she hadn't noticed Harry getting back from his scene so was surprised to see him in there as well, clearing up after finishing his autopsy.

"Nikki, Harry, can you come over here please?" Leo called from the far end of the room. He had his back to them and appeared to be looking at something through a microscope.

When they arrived, Leo craftily positioned himself so that the two younger pathologists were at the edge of the room and he was a bit closer to the door. He was also the only one who noticed the lab techs leaving the room silently and that was only because he had told them to when Harry was at his scene.

"What did you want, Leo?" Harry asked, not suspecting a thing.

"I just wanted your opinion on this sample. I can't quite tell what it is and was wondering if either of you had any bright ideas."

Being the big children that they were, Harry and Nikki immediately started fighting over who got to look at it first. By the time they had finished (which took plenty of time, as Leo had predicted) their boss was out of the door and had taken the keys with him, locking them in.

**Oooo cliffhanger! Please don't hate me ;) I know the next chapter is the one you've been waiting for. Now I just have to write it, which should be fun. Please review.**

**Georgie xx  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay it's the chapter you've been waiting for. Sorry if it doesn't live up to expectations. I've struggled trying to keep them in character.**

"What ever happened to ladies first?" Nikki said, nudging Harry out the way.

"That only counts if you behave like a lady" He retorted.

"Shut up and move out the bloody way!"

Eventually Harry gave in, letting Nikki look down the microscope at what she soon discovered to be nothing more than a piece of blue fluff that looked suspiciously like it was from Leo's jumper. She moved out the way to let Harry waste his time looking at it and turned round to speak to her boss, who had already vacated the room.

"Harry..." Nikki started slowly. "Where's Leo?"

The young man looked around to see what Nikki meant and was surprised to see that, other than the two of them, the room was completely empty.

"Bastard. He's gone" Harry said, stating the obvious, and went to leave the cutting room, only to find the door wouldn't budge. "Bastard!" He repeated, louder this time.

Realising that this was what her boss had meant when he said that he was 'going to have to take matters into his own hands', Nikki swore under her breath and sunk to the floor, head in her hands. She really didn't want to deal with this right now. As much as she missed how things used to be she didn't want to face up to the fact that they had slept together and nothing had come of it. She knew she had ruined her chances with him forever and was now going into self-preservation mode and shutting Harry out completely in an attempt to save herself from the pain. She had only just coped after their kiss all those years ago and didn't know if she could survive that again.

It was only when she heard Harry sigh and wave a tissue in front of her face that she realised that she had been crying. 'Great' she thought. This was the last thing she needed – Harry to see how weak and pathetic she was. She had tried so hard to put on a front at work and save the tears for when she was alone but now that had all been wasted. 'He probably hates me even more now' she mused.

Harry slid down the edge of the counter and sat next to her, unsure of whether or not to try and comfort her. He hated that it had got so awkward between them and decided to have another go at patching things up. Besides, he knew Leo too well to even think that he would let them out before they had made up.

Hesitantly, he slid his hand into Nikki's and was surprised when she didn't pull away immediately. However, it only took her a few seconds to realise what had happened and withdraw her hand. She looked away, missing the hurt look on Harry's face.

He tried a different technique: "Look, about what happened at the weekend..." He started, but Nikki cut him off.

"Let's just forget it ever happened, yeah? It was all a big mistake and won't happen again"

"A bloody brilliant mistake" Harry mumbled, but Nikki didn't hear him. She was still ranting on about how they should forget about it.

"Are you even listening to me Harry?" Nikki yelled but he just shrugged his shoulders.

"After the first 10 seconds I'd heard pretty much all I needed to. It would've been a lot more interesting if you didn't keep repeating yourself." He said in a slightly raised voice.

"You are such a man. Do you not care what I think? How I feel? No! You were probably just thinking about your stomach or fantasising about sleeping with Emilia Fox or someone like that!" She screamed.

"You are such a hypocrite! Have you ever asked me what I thought? Because I enjoyed it and from what I remember you did too. It was you who immediately dismissed it without a second thought. What was it you said? Oh yeah 'it was a stupid, drunken mistake' and as far as you're concerned that's it!"

"God, Harry you are impossible!"

There was a loud crack as hand connected with cheek...


	10. Chapter 10

_There was a loud crack as hand connected with cheek_ and Nikki stumbled backwards.

"Oh my God! Nikki I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it." Harry spluttered, both shocked and appalled at his own actions.

He walked over to Nikki who looked at him with what seemed to be fear in her eyes. She was scared of him, he thought. Harry had seen that look from his friend once before when they were investigating the Flannery case and he pushed her against the wall. It was the look that killed him inside.

"Stay away from me!" She cried, clutching her cheek.

Harry backed away, not wanting to cause her any more pain. "I am really sorry Nikki. I never meant to hurt you."

She turned away from him so that she was facing the microscope again and Harry took this opportunity to approach her. Slowly he walked forwards and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Sorry." He repeated quietly.

Hesitantly, Nikki turned her head round to face Harry and he could see a red mark on the side of her face. He gently lifted his hand up and ran his fingers softly over it, quietly apologising over and over.

Nikki flinched away from his touch, but never broke eye-contact. Both pathologists were sure they felt something there between them but were equally positive that the other person didn't even notice it.

"I need to... ummm... go and do that... urmmm... report thing for Leo" Nikki stuttered, forgetting that the door was still locked.

"Nikki, wait!" Harry cried after her and followed her towards the door, gently grabbing her arm to stop her walking away. When she looked round she could see tears in his eyes and he looked so lost. Her heart went out to him for a moment and he lent forwards and hesitantly pressed a gentle kiss on her lips.

She responded for a second and then pulled away, shocked.

"Harry. What did you do that for? Get away from me!"

"I didn't... it's just... I'm sorry" He stuttered.

'There it was again.' Nikki thought. 'He kept saying sorry. Over and over.' She had lost count of the amount of times he had said it in the past few minutes. What was he sorry for? Really? Kissing her at the conference and not saying anything about it? Shoving her against the wall? Kissing her when they were drunk on Friday? Sleeping with her? Shouting at her? Hitting her? Kissing her just then? Did he even know what he was sorry for? He never explained and that made Nikki doubt how much he meant it. She knew he hadn't intended to hurt her. They were best friends. If only he would explain; show her that he understood how much he had hurt her.

This was it. She was going to have to get him to explain properly. She needed to know what Harry really thought of her. Surely if they were friends he wouldn't keep hurting her so much. Would he?

She walked over to one of the stools, sat down and watched as Harry made his way over to her and perched on the counter.

"We really need to sort this mess out." She stated.

"I know. It's all my fault. I should never have kissed you. I'm sorry."

"Which time?"

"What do you mean which time?" He asked, slightly confused.

Nikki sighed. She knew this was a bad idea - dragging up the past like this. But she'd started now, so she had to finish.

"Which kiss?" She elaborated, desperately hoping that he hadn't forgotten about the one at the conference or on Friday night.

"All three. I'm really sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry? Sorry about what? It's all you've said since we came in here. Do you even know what you are sorry for? Are you going to explain or do you not really mean it? I'm sick of this Harry. I'm sick of you messing with my head. I never thought you could hurt me. I've put my life in your hands God only knows how many times yet time and again you mess me up. I don't think I can stand it anymore!" She screamed and burst into tears. Her body was shaking with sobs, only then did Harry realise the true damage he had done to their friendship and to her: the woman he loved.

She turned away from him self-consciously, not wanting him to see her crying again.

"I'm sorry for all the times I've hurt you Nikki. I never did it intentionally, I swear. You mean the world to me and I hate seeing you upset like this. I messed up. I know that now." Harry walked over to her and gently turned her head so that she was facing him. "I didn't mean to hit you, you know that right? It was stupid of me and I promise it will never happen again."

Nikki interrupted him with a single word. Meaningless to many but one that broke his heart. "Flannery" She stated, in a quiet, yet cold voice.

"You do think I'm violent, don't you?"

"I don't know, Harry. I don't know what to think any more."

"Are you scared of me?" He asked, dreading her response.

Nikki shook her head and looked him in the eye.

"I'm not scared. I'm just upset. We've made such a mess of our friendship this past week. I know I've been blaming you the whole time but it was my fault as well."

"No it wasn't. None of this was down to you."

"I didn't stop you when you kissed me, did I? I walked back to your apartment. I haven't talked to you all week. I'm as much to blame as you are."

"Do you think Leo will let us out now? I'm hungry" Harry said, trying to change the conversation and get them back to how they used to be, afraid of what he might say if they didn't.

"Do you ever think of anything but your stomach?"

"No." He said bluntly, making Nikki giggle. The sound was music to Harry's ears, especially knowing he had caused it. It always made him feel warm inside.

Just at that moment Leo unlocked the door and Nikki made her way swiftly towards it. The older man smiled at her as she went out.

"I love you." Harry whispered, quiet enough so that neither of his colleagues could hear him.

**Sorry this chapter took a bit longer than usual to upload. It was a challenge to write but I really wanted it get it right for you. I tried a couple of different versions but none of the others gave them opportunity to talk. Hope you liked it, please review and let me know what you think.**

**Georgie xx**


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. You are too kind :)**

For the first time in a whole week both Harry and Nikki felt good. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off both of their shoulders. Yes, they knew their friendship wouldn't be back to the way it was just like that and it was bound to be slightly awkward at first but they were both hopeful and willing to work at it.

As she had no work left to do, Nikki decided to start as she meant to go on with regards to Harry and go over and try to help with his case.

"Interesting case?" She asked.

"Not really. Looks like another suicide." Harry replied, happy that Nikki had been the one to start up a conversation with him. "No obvious signs of struggle, looks like he jumped."

"Intoxicated?"

"I'll have to wait for the tox report to come back to be sure but I don't think so. He wasn't a heavy drinker, by the looks of his liver, and his pupils seemed normal."

'This is good.' thought Harry. He was glad that they were talking, even though it was just about work. They seemed to be acting like colleagues more than friends but it was a start.

"I'll let you get back to work then, do you want a coffee?" Nikki asked.

"Yeah, thanks." He replied. He would have preferred it if Nikki had stayed there but he knew that having a long conversation might be pushing it so soon after what happened. If Harry was completely honest with himself, he was surprised she was even talking to him after what he did to her earlier. He decided to be happy with what he was getting at the moment and enjoy the fact that she was at least being civil to him. Harry knew it was a lot more than he deserved.

Nikki came back a couple of minutes later with a steaming mug of coffee and handed it quickly to Harry.

"Thanks" He said as he took a sip.

"You're welcome."

"Where's yours?" Harry enquired.

"Oh I've got to go." She replied, gesturing towards the door. "Leo's given me a scene. Finally got some work to do. You'll probably be gone by the time I get back."

"Okay well I'll see you on Monday then."

"Yeah, bye." Nikki said, and hurried out the door. Harry watched her through the glass as she grabbed her coat and walked away. He knew it would be stupid for them to get back to being best friends immediately and was sure that she was still slightly scared of him. She just seemed a bit hesitant all the time. Oh well, an awkward conversation was better than nothing and she had made him coffee – and very nice coffee at that. He hoped that they were moving forward but was going to take it slowly with Nikki so as not to spoil it again.

**I know this chapter is a bit boring but it's just a filler before the next one. Please review anyway :)**

**Georgie xx**


	12. Chapter 12

**Feeling kind so I'm going to give you another chapter today. Hope you llike it.**

The next month passed fairly uneventfully. Harry and Nikki were still talking to each other and their relationship, though still fragile, was getting stronger. They had been able to go out for drinks with Leo a couple of times and both seemed to be getting happier by the day.

Despite this, Nikki couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. She had the feeling she'd forgotten something but had no idea what it was. She flicked through her diary at work, trying to find what it was. There were no birthdays coming up and she hadn't missed any either, she didn't have any appointments or meeting to do with work as she writes them straight down and besides Harry or Leo would've reminded her.

Harry noticed Nikki looking confused and asked if there was anything wrong.

"No I'm fine it's just I have a feeling I've forgotten something and I have no idea what it is."

"Well you seem to have forgotten to annoy me today, maybe that's it." He teased, happy to have made Nikki giggle. "Oh wait, you were clicking your pen just now while you were thinking. That was annoying."

Nikki scowled at him but Harry could see her trying to stifle a smile. He continued: "You've also forgotten to commandeer my desk this morning. Umm... have you got your lunch? Cleaned your teeth? Bought my Christmas present?"

"Harry! It's the middle of May. Why would I have your Christmas present already?" Exclaimed Nikki, just as Leo walked into the room.

The older man smiled to himself and he looked over at his two co-workers who were, finally, getting along almost as well as they used to. He was happy to have them talking to each other and had to admit that the one awful week that they weren't talking to each other had been the quietest and most boring that he had remembered since Nikki had started working with them. However, he knew that it was still not completely stable and wasn't naïve enough to think that it would be fine within a month. Leo still had no idea what had caused the argument but found that he didn't care, as long as they were happy again, or as happy as they could be when they were still completely oblivious as to how much they loved each other.

Regretfully, he knew they had to get to work and gave Nikki the newest case, a woman found murdered in her kitchen.

As she drove home Nikki started to think back to what was worrying her earlier. She still had no idea what she had forgotten but was sure there was something. Her thoughts drifted to the post mortem she had performed earlier that day on the pregnant woman. She remembered looking at the small bones of the child growing inside her. She hated having to do autopsies on children. It was the worst part of the job. The foetus was tiny but it was starting to look like a baby by the time the mother died.

Suddenly, it dawned on Nikki why she had the feeling something was wrong. She was late. Over a week late.

"Shit!" She said as she stopped the car suddenly.

Knowing that her mind wouldn't rest until she knew for certain she drove to the nearest supermarket and bought three pregnancy tests. She wanted to be certain, the last thing she needed was a false positive.

It was only when she pulled up outside her house that she realised when it must've happened. There was only one possible father. Harry.

She rushed straight to the bathroom and took all three tests. The wait afterwards, though only three minutes, seemed to be the longest of her life. She tapped her fingers impatiently on the table and watched the clock. 'Why do they have to take so long?' she thought.

When the three minutes was up, however, she took a further ten to actually pluck up the courage to turn them over and look at them.

She looked down in shock at the words in front of her:

'Pregnant'


	13. Chapter 13

"Shit!" I said as I looked down at the three positive pregnancy tests in front of me. I grabbed them and threw them across the room and winced as I heard one hit a vase of flowers, causing it to smash everywhere. They were the flowers Harry had given me the Monday after that big fight we had when Leo locked us in the cutting room. It was sweet really, him saying sorry like that.

He didn't need to. I would've forgiven him anyway. I can't help it. That one week where we didn't talk to each other was torture for me. Why can't I stay mad at him?

I supposed I'm still a bit cautious around him after what he did. I never thought he could hurt me until then. Seeing the pain in his eyes when I brought up what had happened at the Flannery case killed me inside. That was the moment I truly knew he was sorry.

And now this happens.

I'm scared. I have no idea how Harry is going to react. I could just not tell him. No. He will notice as soon as I start showing. I can't hide it from him. I've got to tell him.

What if he asks me to get an abortion, like he did with Penny? I couldn't do that. I couldn't kill my own child.

That woman I autopsied today was pregnant and her baby had relied on her to keep it safe. It hadn't even made it into the world and it was dead. The thought of it horrifies me. There is no way I'm getting rid of this baby.

Five weeks. I'm five weeks along and I never noticed anything. I'm a doctor, surely I would notice something. What about all those evenings out drinking with Harry and Leo.?

Crap! We are supposed to be going out tonight. I can't just sit there and not drink. They aren't stupid. They're bound to figure it out. Probably within the first ten minutes. I can't go, can I?

I reach for my phone and dial Leo's number.

"_Dalton_" came a voice from the other end of the line. I smiled to myself. Leo always picked up on the first ring. It was a habit of his.

"Hey Leo, it's Nikki."

"_Hi Nikki. What do you want?_"

"I'm not really feeling too good. I think I'm going to give tonight a miss."

"_Are you sure?_"

"Yeah, sorry"

"_Okay well get some rest then. I hope you feel better soon._"

"Thanks Leo. Can you tell Harry I'm sorry please?"

"_Yeah, sure._"

"I'll see you on Monday then. Bye."

And with that, I hung up the phone.

How am I going to tell Harry? Our friendship is strained enough at the moment and even the slightest thing could ruin it forever. I don't want to risk that happening. I love him too much to lose him, just as we were slowly getting back to how we were before.

I'm constantly walking on eggshells when I'm around him. I don't want to jeopardise what we had before by letting him know how I feel. I had wanted to be with him for so long, as more than just friends, so why did I freak out when we slept together?

My mind is all over the place at the moment. I can't think straight. What am I going to do? I have to tell him soon. The longer I leave it the worse he will take it. So when shall I tell him? I'm not going to do it tonight. I need time to get my head around it myself first. Tomorrow? Still a bit too soon. I have to do it sometime next week though. It's just a matter of finding the right moment. But what if the moment never comes? I can't exactly tell him at work. I don't want to risk people overhearing. I'll have to do it somewhere private. I know – I'll invite him round one evening and tell him then. That way he can leave as soon as I tell him and go back to ignoring me. I'd hate it but there really is nothing I can do about it.

But then again, what if he is okay with it? Will he be? I doubt it. I can hope though, right?

I'm scared, no – terrified, about the future. I'm not ready to be a mother. Mine is dead and I have no one to learn from. No one to help me. Dad is completely useless and I doubt Harry will want to have anything to do with me when he finds out. He doesn't love me. He only thinks of me as a friend. I remember telling him once about the 'exquisite pain' of being in love. Little did he know I was talking from firsthand experience.

As I'm being completely honest with myself I have to admit that I am a little bit scared of Harry at the moment. I know he won't hurt me again - I can see how much he regretted that - I'm just scared of him not talking to me. He'll probably blame me for not being on the pill.

He's not that bad really. Why am I acting like he is? I love him yet I hate him for making me love him so much.

And now I'm having his child.

Shit, my life's a mess.

**This chapter is a bit all over the place but I needed to get Nikki's opinions in before Harry finds out. Which will be soon, don't worry. Probably within the next couple of chapters. Not sure if I'm going to have a happily ever after yet. I'll leave you to persuade me either way ;) Please review, they make me write quicker!**

**Georgie xx**


	14. Chapter 14

**Thanks for reviewing everyone. I love reading all your thoughts and reactions. They really do brighten up my mood after a long day of college. Hope you like this chapter, I'm not sure how in character everyone is though.**

Nikki was the first to arrive at work the next morning, with both Leo and Harry walking in (obviously hung-over – making Nikki glad she gave last night a miss) about half an hour later. Even though it was the last thing in the world she felt like doing, she greeted them both with a loud and cheery 'morning' when they came in. Perhaps it was a little too cheery though as Leo eyed her suspiciously when she said it.

Harry felt like death as he arrived at work and sat down at his own desk for once. Nikki had even greeted him like she used to, although he had to admit it did sound a little forced but he put that out of his mind, and immediately went off to get him and Leo a coffee each.

Throughout the morning Harry noticed that Nikki was being extra nice to them, but just put it down to it being her way of apologising for not coming last night. She didn't need to apologise though, it wasn't her fault.

"Are you okay" He asked. "You know, after yesterday. Leo said you felt ill."

Nikki easily bluffed her way out of it by saying it was 'women's troubles' to make Harry feel awkward and drop it. She really didn't see by men, especially doctors like Harry, were so embarrassed and uncomfortable about such a natural thing.

When Nikki eventually started working on the case she was given yesterday, Harry noticed a complete change in her mood. She had become snappy at anything he said and he was sure at one point she was going to cry. This wasn't like her and he knew it. He'd been on the receiving end of her bad moods a few times and knew this wasn't normal for her, so decided to keep a closer eye on her.

Leo had obviously noticed something too and called Harry in to his office to see if they had had another argument.

"No we haven't spoken since she went home yesterday." Harry said, in response to Leo's question.

"So you have no idea what's wrong with her?"

"No. I asked her if she was feeling better and she just mentioned 'women's troubles' and I left it at that. You don't think she's in some sort of trouble do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe her dad has been in contact again." Harry suggested, but Leo shook his head.

"She would've told us about that, surely" He replied.

They both decided to leave it for the time being and just keep an eye on their friend.

Later on, when Leo offered to go and make them all a drink, Nikki declined. She knew caffeine would be bad for the baby and had already started thinking about it. She was scared, obviously, but being a doctor she was also fascinated by the idea of a new life growing inside her. Hesitantly, she rubbed her hand over her still flat stomach and tried to imagine what it would look like. She knew that it was still only an embryo but that a heart was already forming. The thought terrified her, yet she also found herself a little bit excited.

The main thing that was worrying her was Harry hating her when she told him. She hadn't even thought about what would happen when the baby was born, her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of being rejected by her best friend.

What Nikki didn't realise was that Leo had seen her sneakily put her hand on her stomach (something which Harry missed from being on the other side of the desk) and also noted the fact that she hadn't had her usual morning coffee.

He also took into account what Harry had also mentioned to him about her getting a bit emotional over the case with the pregnant woman. He knew what had happened. All the signs were there, he was just the only one who had caught all of them and had experience from when Teresa was pregnant.

He knew it was probably best not to mention this to Harry yet as it would break his heart to know that Nikki was seeing someone else (as, he noticed, it always did) and he also had no idea how far along she was. Leo decided that the best approach would be to talk to her alone and see what she thinks about it, and also try and find out who the father is. He definitely wasn't aware of her seeing anyone, not that she is very open about her private life but he did like to pride himself in knowing her very well in a father-like way.

"Nikki, can I have a word please?"

"Sure." She replied and got up to walk in to her boss' office. Leo closed the door behind her and motioned for her to sit down.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" Leo started, trying to get her to admit it on her own.

His suspicions were pretty much confirmed by how quickly she answered.

"No, nothing. What makes you think I have something to tell you?"

He knew this tactic would probably lead to nowhere so tried a different approach, being methodical like the scientist within him even when it came to dealing with his friends.

"I've noticed a few things today that aren't quite normal behaviour for you."

Nikki tensed slightly but attempted to feign ignorance. "I don't know what you mean, Leo"

"Refusing the coffee, your changing moods, how you don't seem to be mentally coping with your case, not coming out for a drink last night and using the 'women's troubles' excuse to put Harry of the scent and the was your hand keeps making its way towards your stomach. I'm not blind Nikki, or stupid."

He noticed his colleague blush slightly and she asked in a quiet voice: "Is it really that obvious?" Leo nodded his head seriously. "Please don't tell anyone yet." She pleaded.

"How far along are you?"

"About five weeks."

"And who is the father?" He asked but Nikki merely shook her head and stated that she wasn't going to tell him yet.

"Are you going to keep it?"

Nikki stood up, suddenly angry at her boss. "Of course I'm bloody well going to keep it. It's my baby. What do you take me for Leo?" She snapped, but immediately regretted it and mumbled an apology.

"How do you feel about it, Nikki, really?" Leo enquired.

"I don't know. I only found out yesterday and it still hasn't properly sunk in. I'm scared though. I don't think I can raise a child on my own, especially with no one to learn from growing up."

"I'll be here to help you Nikki, as will Harry I'm sure."

Nikki just scoffed at his last remark and sunk down onto the sofa in Leo's office, head in her hands, and started crying.

The older man perched next to her and wrapped a protective arm around her, trying to comfort her like he would a young child who had fallen over, or a teenager when they broke up with their boyfriend or girlfriend; comforting her like he should've done with Cassie.


	15. Chapter 15

After spending a considerable amount of time composing herself Nikki walked out of Leo's office, still slightly shaky, and had to make a conscious effort not to make it obvious to anyone else.

"You were gone a while, what did he want?" Harry asked.

"Oh nothing, just talking about the Greenwood case." Nikki lied.

"What, the case that we are all involved in?"

'Shit' Nikki thought, and turned her head away to hide her blush, something which Harry seemed to find incredibly funny as he had to cover his laughter with a cough.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, you know." He said. Nikki gave him an appreciative smile and tried to get back to her work.

The whole time Nikki was typing random letter combinations on a blank document she was thinking about how to tell Harry about the baby. After about twenty minutes and six pages of nonsense, including a couple of German phrases and the lyrics to her current favourite song, she decided it would be more productive to plan how to tell her best friend that he was going to be a daddy. This took another hour and when she had finally perfected, in her eyes, a conversation between the two of them she decided to bite the bullet and start. She had already decided not to do it at the office as she didn't want nosey lab techs and police officers knowing their private business.

"Harry..." She started tentatively. His head shot up and he nodded, signalling for her to continue. "Do you want to come round for a drink tonight?" She knew that she couldn't drink but it would be the easiest way to get Harry to come without him being to suspicious and by the time he notices she would be able to tell him.

"Yeah, sure. What time?"

"About seven?"

"Okay that sounds great. Do you want me to bring anything round?"

"No it's okay. I've got plenty of wine, besides I'm always turning up and stealing yours, I owe you."

"You do drink an awful lot of my wine." He joked and Nikki glared at him. She yawned and turned back to her computer screen, closing her document and making a start on some proper work.

"Boring you, am I?" Harry teased.

"No I just didn't get much sleep last night" She replied, which technically wasn't a lie. Okay so _technically_ she didn't get any sleep last night but if she told him that he would just worry.

They both got back to work, equally annoyed at their still strained relationship. They could cope with a couple of jokes at each other's expense but then would just slip into an awkward silence. Nikki remembered how whenever that would happen at school her and her friends used to do the 'awkward silence turtle' (placing one hand on top of the other and moving thumbs around in a circular motion until someone asked what they were doing and they had to explain, hence breaking the awkward silence). She frowned to herself as she realised that the 'sexual tension jellyfish' may have been more appropriate in these circumstances.

Why couldn't she just wave a magic wand and make their friendship back to how it used to be?

The doorbell rang at precisely seven and Nikki, who wasn't quite ready as she was only wearing one earring, rushed over to let Harry in. She had heard his car park up outside her house a couple of minutes before hand and was sure he was being exactly on time to annoy her, and probably make a point about how she wasn't ready.

"Hey, come in." She smiled, trying to appear more confident and normal than she actually felt.

"I know you said don't bring anything but this had been sitting at home for ages" He said, handing his friend a bottle of wine. She took it and motioned for him to go through to the living room.

"Thanks Harry, you didn't have to." Nikki replied and went out to the kitchen to grab him a glass.

When she walked back in to the room Harry gave her a strange look.

"For someone so clever, your maths skills are atrocious." He joked.

"Oh, I've decided I'm not drinking tonight. I'm still not feeling great."

After about half an hour of comfortable chat Nikki knew that she should probably just get straight to the point. However, she was still feeling slightly apprehensive and after twenty one hours and sixteen minutes she had still not come up with a way to phrase it. How on earth was she supposed to tell the man in front of her, who was currently talking about planes, that he was going to be a father?

Harry wasn't stupid. He knew there was something bothering Nikki. He wanted to ask what it was but didn't know if she trusted him enough to be able to talk about it. It struck him that it was probably the same thing she had been talking to Leo about earlier as she had seemed a bit different after coming out of his office.

"Nikki, are you okay?" He asked.

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine." She replied.

"Are you sure? You've seemed a bit distant all evening. You know you can talk to me if there's something bothering you, don't you?"

"Okay there is something," She started. "But I don't think you are going to like it."

"It's okay Nikki, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Harry said as he noticed how nervous she was acting. She was fiddling with the sleeve of her jumper and avoiding looking at him. He was starting to get worried when she didn't reply so moved over to sit next to her and take her hand in his, thinking that he was encouraging her.

Nikki didn't seem to take it that was though as she quickly withdrew her hand and shuffled away slightly.

'Oh well, here it comes' she thought. She lifted her head slowly to look into his eyes, although she wasn't quite sure why. She didn't really want to see his immediate reaction as she knew it would probably upset her more.

Her next words came as a whisper, so quiet that Harry could barely hear them. "I'm pregnant."


	16. Chapter 16

_Her next words came as a whisper, so quiet that Harry could barely hear them. "I'm pregnant."_

Harry spluttered and spit out his drink. For a split second he thought she was joking but then he noticed the tears threatening to fall from her eyes and knew she was telling the truth.

"What?" He shouted as he stood up in shock, an action perceived by Nikki as violent and causing her to flinch away from him, the tears now falling freely down her face.

Seeing her reaction, however, he calmed himself down and sat gently next to her, trying to comfort her. The fact that she automatically moved away from him broke Harry's heart a little. Although he was pretty certain of the answer, he asked anyway:

"Is it mine?"

His fears were confirmed by a slow nodding of Nikki's head. Harry ran a hand through his hair, a nervous habit of his, and swore under his breath.

Nikki slowly lifted her head again, meeting her friend's eyes once more.

"What are you thinking?" She asked, not sure if she really wanted to know.

"How long have you known?"

"Since last night. That's why I didn't go out with you and Leo."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"Leo guessed. That's what we were talking about in his office earlier." Nikki replied as a look of panic shot through Harry's face. "Don't worry, I didn't tell him who the father was only he knows I'm not with anyone because I mentioned raising it alone."

At this, Harry visibly relaxed. He didn't want his boss knowing how stupid they had been.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" He asked, slightly hurt that she hadn't come to him sooner.

"I needed some time to get my head around it and I..." She broke off. She couldn't confess to Harry why she didn't want to tell him.

"You what?" Harry asked gently.

"Nothing. It's not important."

"Please..." He pleaded, with the eyes he knew his friend found hard to resist, but Nikki just shook her head. It was then that Harry guessed why she might not have wanted to tell him. "Are you still scared of me?"

"No Harry It's not that, honestly. I'm not scared of you. You're my best friend. I know you wouldn't hurt me again." She said, trying to persuade herself at the same time.

"Then what is it?"

"I was worried... I was..." She hesitated. "I was worried you'd ask me to have an abortion. I couldn't do that Harry. I can't kill our baby." Nikki confessed, and looked away as if she was ashamed. In truth, she didn't want to see the hurt reaction that Harry was currently wearing all over his face.

He couldn't believe that she would think that of him. Yes he had asked it of Penny in the past but he thought it was for the best. He still didn't know if it was the right decision and if his life would've ended up better if he hadn't but it was in the past. He couldn't change that now.

'Our baby'. She had called it 'our baby'. This had defiantly just made it a lot more real to Harry. He was going to be a dad. It was still sinking in. He was the father of Nikki's unborn child. How had this happened?

"Oh my God Nikki I would never do that! I could never ask you to."

"But Penny..."

Harry interrupted. "I was just a student then. I was scared. I didn't want to be a dad. I had no idea how. I'm not even sure I know how now but I'm going to try, if you want me to. If you want my help Nikki I will be there. Every step of the way. I promise."

Nikki smiled slightly through her tears, making Harry happy knowing that he put it there.

For the first time since she left work the day before Nikki truly relaxed. Maybe everything would be alright after all, she thought. Harry was offering to help raise the child and wasn't mad at her.

"Are we going to tell Leo?" Harry asked. "It's completely up to you. If you want to be straight with him then that's fine by me or if you want to keep it between us I don't mind."

"I don't know yet. We probably should tell him eventually." Nikki replied, and he nodded in agreement.

"You do realise I'm unlikely to let you do anything at work now right?" Harry joked. "You're carrying my child. I want it kept safe."

"So you don't care about me then? Just your baby. I feel so appreciated." She retorted, glad that Harry was making her feel so at ease about the whole thing. After all the time she spent working herself up about telling him and getting really nervous she was starting to feel a bit stupid. Why had she been so worried? After the initial shock he had been really nice about it – a perfect gentleman.

She was suddenly overwhelmed with fatigue as the events of the past couple of days caught up with her. She apologised to Harry and said he should probably go; she really needed a good night's sleep after being awake all night worrying.

"Okay, but promise you'll let me know about any scans, appointments, problems, anything. I mean it Nikki. I'm going to be there one hundred percent of the way. Even if you want to wake me up at two in the morning because you have a craving for chocolate and have run out. I'll be there for you. Don't feel you have to do this alone."

When Harry had gone Nikki was left feeling incredibly relieved. Every time she had imagined the conversation throughout the last twenty four hours if had gone a lot worse than this. Harry was being so reasonable. But why? She had just changed his life forever.

She was pleased that he wanted to be a part of the baby's life and almost let herself hope that it could lead to something more between them. 'No' she thought. She couldn't think about that. It would only end in disappointment like it did last time when they slept together, and the time before that at the conference. She eventually went to sleep with three words in her head that gave her a bit of hope:

'Third time lucky'

**Thanks for all the reviews so far. You have all given me a big confidence boost and made me want to continue with this story. **

**Just a quick question - do you want Leo to find out and if so, when? I'm not sure what to do with him at the moment.  
**

**Georgie xx  
**


	17. Chapter 17

Leo could tell immediately that Nikki had told Harry she was pregnant by the fact that he was doing absolutely everything for her. He smiled to himself, knowing how much Nikki would hate it – she was a very independent woman and liked doing things for herself. It was sweet really, he thought, Harry was acting like a love-struck teenager. He couldn't do enough to please Nikki.

Nikki sat down on her chair and sighed. Over the weekend the pregnancy had started to feel even more real. When it was just her that knew about it she felt like she was in her own little bubble. A dream world. Although she wasn't quite sure if it was a dream or a nightmare. She settled for somewhere in the middle. Now that Harry and Leo knew she thought it would feel like they had burst her protective metaphorical bubble but in fact her friends had just made the bubble a little bit bigger so that it now contained four people instead of two. It made her feel like part of a family – something that she had missed out on as a child and she loved it. The problem was that Harry was now fussing over her so much. He couldn't leave her alone. 'He's just concerned for his child' she thought, although deep down she hoped it was something more.

When she first walked in to the office she noticed that Harry was sitting at her desk, leaving his desk free for her to use.

After a morning of Harry offering to do everything for her she felt like she was going to scream. She knew, however, that this would only hurt his feelings so opted for a softer approach first.

"Harry, I know that you care for this child, it's only natural, but you don't have to help me with everything I do for the next nine months." She said gently.

"It's not just the child I care about." He mumbled but Nikki didn't hear him so he said, slightly louder this time, "I just want to help and make sure that you're both okay."

"And you're doing a fantastic job of it but can you please give me a bit of space. I'm not used to being wrapped in cotton wool and want to be able to do my own thing."

"You know, that's probably a good idea knowing how accident prone you are." Harry joked.

"Don't go getting any ideas." She warned.

Pleased that Harry hadn't taken it the wrong way, Nikki got back to her work. She had missed the hurt look in his eyes when she said she didn't need his help with everything.

When Harry got back from his lunch break, Leo called him into his office.

"I take it Nikki's told you then."

"Yeah, last night. She invited me round."

"Was she okay? Was crying in my office on Friday after she told me."

"I think she was nervous more than anything." Harry said, which struck Leo as slightly odd. Why would Nikki be nervous about telling her best friend that she was pregnant when she was able to tell her boss? Admittedly he had guessed but she didn't seem worried about telling him.

He gave Harry a questioning look so the younger man replied: "It's understandable really, I suppose. It can't be easy telling your best friend he's going to be a dad."

Leo gasped in surprise as Harry realised what he had just said.

"Shit! I mean... ummm... shit!" He stuttered.

"You're the father?" Leo asked.

Harry nodded.

"No wonder she wouldn't tell me who it was. When did this happen?"

"A couple of weeks ago. We were at the pub after you had left and had quite a bit to drink. It was a stupid mistake, Leo. A stupid, stupid mistake."

"Is that how you really feel about it?"

"What?" Harry asked, confused.

"Come on it's clear to everyone you have feelings for her, more than friendship I mean. Some of the new people we work with even ask me if you're together"

"I don't, I... I... Is it really that obvious?"

Leo smiled and nodded his head. Blushing, Harry lowered his head and swore under his breath.

"Why don't you do something about it? I mean you're having a child together and both clearly like each other. You even act like a married couple with all your constant childish bickering and the way you stare at her when you think no one is looking."

"It's not that simple. What if she doesn't feel the same way?"

The older man sighed. His friends could be so blind sometimes. How could they not see what's right in front of them.

"Just tell her how you feel. You'll never know if she feels the same about you unless you do." He encouraged. They were interrupted when the phone started ringing. "Just think about it." Leo said before picking up the phone and waving Harry out of his office.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks for the reviews everyone :)**

Harry walked out of Leo's office feeling very confused and slightly embarrassed. Was it really that obvious that he had feelings for Nikki? He had always thought that he was quite subtle about it. Besides, he had only recently realised it himself. Okay, maybe he realised it a while ago but he had only admitted it to himself in the past few months.

Should he tell her? He didn't know. Leo seemed to think he should but what if she didn't feel the same way. He didn't know if he could face the rejection and he knew it would ruin their fragile friendship for good this time. Last night was a huge milestone for them though. They were able to talk fairly openly again and he felt that they were really getting somewhere. Did he really want to risk losing that now?

"What did Leo want?" Nikki asked as he sat down at her desk again.

Harry decided that it would be easiest to stay along the lines of the truth so replied that he had wanted to talk about her telling him about the pregnancy.

"What did you say?"

"That you told me last night." He replied although Nikki could tell that there was something else. She gave him a stern look which Harry had learnt over the years not to argue with and decided to admit what he had let slip to their boss.

"I may have accidently let slip that I'm the father." He said quietly.

"You did what?" Nikki screamed and stood up.

"You were the one that said we should tell him."

"Yeah but not straight away!" She yelled. "Why couldn't you just keep it a secret? It's not that hard is it?"

Harry could see this was not a good time to get involved in a full blown argument, especially as Nikki would always win and with the pregnancy hormones it wouldn't be pretty. Calmly, he said:

"Look, I'm really sorry. It was an accident. It just sort of came out. Sorry."

Harry looked down at his desk, ashamed and angry at himself for being so stupid.

Nikki sat back down and reached over to grab Harry's hand. "I'm sorry too. I should never have shouted at you. I know you didn't mean it. Besides, Leo's our friend. I'll sure he'll be alright with it eventually."

'More that alright' Harry thought, remembering the conversation that they had just had in his office. His thoughts were then drawn to what Leo had said about telling her how he felt. Maybe she would feel the same way. He didn't know for sure though and really didn't want to risk losing her friendship forever. Harry decided to invite her round for a take-away and movie night like they used to do. Although they usually ended up never watching a film and talking for hours, partially because they could never agree on what to watch.

He was relieved what she agreed, knowing that they were on their way to having their friendship back to how it was. They were able to have civilised conversations, joke around with each other and make up immediately after an argument. It was certainly getting better, which made Harry want to risk losing her by admitting his feeling even less.

Their discussion about which film to watch was cut short after half an hour of still not coming to a decision by Leo telling them that there was a new case. He had given it to Nikki because, in her words, she 'wouldn't be allowed by _certain people_ to do anything in a few months' and wanted to make the most of it while she still could.

Knowing that she probably wouldn't be back before Harry left for the day, Nikki had agreed to meet him at about seven, giving Harry plenty of time to mentally prepare himself to watch the film that Nikki wanted to see (even though he was positive that he would hate it) before she arrived. He felt that she deserved it as an apology for letting their secret slip to Leo. He really couldn't say 'no' to her.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hope you like this chapter. If you're lucky you may get another chapter tomorrow (or later today actually as it's 12.40 now) but I have a quite a lot of college work to do which I have stupidly put off until the end of half term. Cookies for the person who spots the obvious mention of where I work ;) Please review xx**

'Right' Harry thought as he checked on the pasta bake in the oven. 'I'm going to tell her tonight.' He had decided to cook for her as a special treat instead of just ordering a takeaway. Looking at his watch, he could see that she would arrive in about ten minutes. The perfect amount of time to talk himself out of potentially ruining his friendship with the woman he loved. No, he would not think like that. He needed to be positive about it.

"She's going to hate my guts." He said aloud, silencing the internal argument that the sensible and stupid sides of him mind were having, although Harry wasn't quite sure which was which at the moment.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Harry walked over and greeted his best friend who, by the looks of things, had come straight from work. She still looked absolutely stunning, despite being at a scene for the majority of the afternoon. Why did she have to make it so hard for him?

Nikki made her way through to his living room and sat down, sticking to her usual routine of being at his apartment by commenting on the mess and earning herself a glare from Harry.

After about a minute of uncomfortable silence, Harry decided to start a conversation with something he knew they would be able to talk about comfortably and sensibly.

"So, interesting scene? Was it worth all the pleading and begging to get it?"

"Certainly was." She teased, trying to make him jealous.

"Oh really?" He asked.

"No, not really." She replied honestly. "Bit of a stupid murderer really. Killed the guy and left the murder weapon with DNA all over it just dumped on the bin outside the house."

"It seems we have a new evil genius on our hands." Harry joked, causing Nikki to giggle. It was a sound Harry loved so much, making him smile just listening to it.

"Can you smell that?" She asked. "It smells like something is burning."

"Shit!" Harry yelled as he ran to the kitchen. He came back in holding a dish of burnt, unrecognisable food using the flowery oven gloves that Nikki had given him as a joke present for Christmas that year after he made a comment about his own cooking ability. "Take-away?" He asked, looking sheepishly down at the cremated pasta bake in his hands.

"You didn't have to cook Harry. Where's the menu?"

"Top drawer by the phone." He replied whilst scraping the wasted meal into the bin.

"Chinese, Indian or pizza?" Nikki called out to him.

"I don't mind, you chose."

"I quite fancy pizza." She replied, pulling out a Domino's menu.

An hour later they had just finished eating, although they had still not actually watched a film. Harry was pleased that they had been able to talk exactly like they used to before _that_ night. They were currently recalling last year's Christmas party at the lab and laughing over how stupidly drunk they had got over the course of the evening and cringing over the memory of them and Leo dancing to some cheesy song.

One detail that Harry remembered vividly, despite his drunken state at the time, was the mistletoe hanging down above them at one point and how he had desperately been wishing that Nikki would notice it so that he didn't have to feel stupid asking her to kiss him.

"It's getting late." Nikki said later that evening. "I should probably be getting home."

Why? Why did she have to go? Harry knew he would probably never have a good opportunity to confess his feelings to Nikki, and knew that, although now was as good a time as any, he would rather put it off and save himself the humiliation for a while.

"Thanks for a lovely time Harry. We should really get in to a habit of doing this more often."

"Yeah it was good."

They both stood up so that Harry could see her out. As they walked towards the door Nikki turned around and gave Harry a hug, the latter taking this opportunity to subtly smell her hair. She smelt gorgeous. She seemed to have a distinct soft flowery scent which Harry loved so much. He smiled to himself, something which she glimpsed at for a split second when she pulled away.

"I'll see you at work then." She said.

"Yeah, bye."

"Goodbye."

And she was gone. Harry was left in his apartment wondering why he had missed another opportunity to tell her he loved her. Making a split second decision he got up again from his sofa and sprinted towards the door.

"Nikki!" He called out when he opened it.

She spun around on the spot, confused.

"What? Did I forget something?" She asked.

Harry hesitated for a moment. Realising that it was now or never, he made up his mind. The problem was, his mind didn't seem overly connected to his mouth.

"No it's just... I... ummm... I need to tell you something." He stuttered.


	20. Chapter 20

**Bit worried about uploading this chapter. Not sure quite how much they are in character. Hope it's okay though.**

"_No it's just... I... ummm... I need to tell you something." He stuttered._

"Okay shoot." Nikki smiled at her friend's apparent inability to for a coherent sentence.

"Not here. Can you come inside?"

"Sure." She replied. The way Harry was acting was starting to make her slightly nervous.

Nikki walked back in to her friend's apartment and he motioned for her to go through to the living room. She sat back down on the sofa and looked up at him expectantly.

'Oh crap' Harry thought. He was actually going to have to go through with this. What was he going to say? What was she going to say? Would she hate him? Blame him? Feel the same... No, Harry knew she didn't like him that way. She just thought of him as a friend. A good friend. A good friend who had accidently managed to get her pregnant.

His inner ramblings were interrupted when Nikki asked what it was that he needed to tell her.

"Oh... it's just... it's... ummm..."

"Spit it out!" She giggled. Why did she have to think of it as some joke? Why was she laughing at him? Why didn't she understand the _exquisite pain_ that he was in? Because he hadn't told her yet. That's why. Of course she wouldn't know.

It hurt that she wasn't taking him seriously. But then again – why would she? Whenever he had done something to embarrass himself in front of her he would cover it up and make it in to a joke as a way of hiding his true feelings.

'Right. This is it. I have to do it now.' He thought.

Nikki was starting to get slightly nervous. Why wasn't he saying anything? Usually she couldn't shut him up. Surely she wasn't _that_ intimidating that she made him this nervous. Was she?

Was it about the baby? Did he want nothing to do with it? But why would he tell her this now? Especially after they had just had such a great evening together. It didn't make any sense.

"Nikki I..." Harry started, but was cut off by Nikki.

"Is this about the baby?"

"What? No. It's about you."

"Me? What have I done?"

"Nothing, it's just... you... I..."

"You are really not make any sense this evening Harry." She joked. "How much have you had to drink?"

"Not enough for this." He mumbled, but Nikki didn't hear him.

"You were going to tell me something..." She prompted after a couple of minutes of silence. It was a silence which Harry had been grateful for as they had allowed him to regain his thoughts, not that it did much use as his brain was still having difficulty connecting with his mouth.

"Yes I was... I... Shit! Why is this so hard?"

"Why is what so hard? Can't you just say it?" Nikki asked. "I'm starting to get a bit worried."

"Oh, no it's nothing to worry about. Well maybe it is. I don't know. For me it is, I guess."

Harry was struggling to make any sense at all. He wondered to himself why he was finding it so hard to say those three simple words, eight letters. 'Come on Harry' he though. 'It's not that hard'. At the same time another part of his brain was already having a panic attack about her reaction. This was the bit he was most worried about. Telling her how he felt shouldn't really be this hard, he'd felt the same way ever since she broke in to their lab all those years ago.

"Why would you be worrying about it?"

"It doesn't matter. It's not that important. Just leave it."

"No come on, tell me." She coaxed.

"I said no!" He said; raising his voice slightly and making Nikki jump.

"Fine then, suit yourself. I'm going home."

"Fine." Harry replied, knowing it would do no good but having no idea what to do to make her stay.

Coming to a split second (and probably totally crazy, mad and irrational) decision he yelled out to her, just as she reached the door:

"Nikki, I love you!"

**There you go. I can't believe I was able to wait a whole 20 chapters before one of them confessed their feelings. **

**Please review. The more I get the quicker you will find out Nikki's reaction ;)**

**Georgie xx**


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I told you I would upload quicker :) Hope you enjoy it.**

"_Nikki, I love you!"_

Nikki stopped dead in her tracks.

'Shit!' Harry thought as he sprinted to reach her. He hadn't meant to tell her like that, especially not when she was angrily storming out of his apartment. Surely he had more sense than that? Evidently not.

He stood behind her for a few minutes, wondering why she hadn't said anything. He had thought that it wouldn't come as a complete shock to her if it was as obvious to everyone they worked with as Leo had implied.

"Nikki?" He questioned, hesitantly.

No response.

Slowly, he placed a hand on her shoulder. He took it as a good sign that she wasn't moving away. In fact, he was actually surprised that she was still here.

"Did you mean it?"

"Did I... of course I meant it... I..." He was stuttering again, great. How was she going to understand how he feels about her if he can't even speak properly? "Nikki I love you so much. I have done for years. I know you probably didn't want to hear it shouted at you like that, sorry. I had been trying to tell you all evening, I just couldn't find the words. I wanted it to be perfect and I know take-away pizza isn't really romantic but I didn't think you would have come if I'd asked you out to a restaurant or something. I love you Nikki, I really do."

She turned round and Harry could see tears in her eyes. He wanted so much to hug her and show her how much she meant to him, but knew now probably wasn't the time.

"Why?" She managed to choke out.

"Why what?" Harry asked, confused.

"Why did you have to tell me? It just makes everything so confusing. I feel the same way, Harry, but it's just not right. We were getting on so well. Why did you have to ruin it?"

"You... you feel the same?"

"Yes, but... I don't know. We can't do this. It will just make everything too complicated."

"What's complicated about it? We both have feelings for each other and are having a child together. What could be more simple?"

"It's just... I'm... I'm scared."

Harry knew this would come up eventually. He was sure she was more scared of him than she was letting on.

Seeing the panicked look on Harry's face Nikki realised what she had said.

"No, not like that. I'm not scared of you Harry. Honestly. Please believe me when I say that." Hearing this, Harry visibly relaxed. "It's just; everyone who has ever loved me has left me. It hurts so much and I don't think I can go through it again. My mum died, my dad... well the less said about him the better. And, well, I can't put myself through that pain again."

"I'm not going to leave you Nikki, I promise."

"You can't promise that Harry."

"Yes I can. I love you so much and it breaks my heart to see you upset. I've wanted to kill every man who has ever left you, all those times you've had accidents at crime scenes or whenever, and you father. Every time he comes in to your life he hurts you and it makes me so angry."

Nikki sniffed and began to smile slightly through her tears.

"Would it be totally inappropriate to ask for a hug?" She said. Harry gave amazing hugs. They always helped to cheer her up. He held out his arms, allowing her to snuggle up to him as he tried to comfort her, hating himself for making her cry.

They wondered back in to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

"What does this mean for us now?" Nikki asked.

"It can mean whatever you want it to."

"I don't know what I want yet."

"That's okay. You can have as long as you need. I'm happy to wait for you Nikki."

Slowly, she reached up and gave Harry a quick kiss on the lips, before picking up her bag and saying:

"I need a bit of time to think about it. I'll see you at work. Bye."

"Bye Nikki." He called out.

**I've already written the next chapter. Please review and if you're lucky I may upload again today. Thanks for reading :)**

**Georgie xx**


	22. Chapter 22

**Quick chapter from Harry's POV. This was a challenge to write. It's a lot easier to write Nikki's thoughts. Hope this is okay though.**

Well that went better than expected. Admittedly I didn't tell her as well as I could have but she did seem to take it quite well.

She said she felt the same way. Does that mean she loves me to? Or that she just has feeling for me?

Why didn't she just tell me she loved me?

At least we managed to have a proper talk about it, which is good. I had expected her to storm out and avoid me for ages like last time. I couldn't have coped with that. I can't stand not talking to her – she means the world to me.

I still can't believe she thought that I would leave her.

I really need to show her how much she means to me. I don't think she really trusts me not to hurt her. I can't say I blame her. She hasn't really had the best of luck. Everyone seems to let her down.

Why would they do that? She's so perfect. Can't they see it?

And she might actually love me. Just the thought, the possibility, makes me the happiest man alive.

I can understand she needs time though. She's putting on that strong facade that she uses when she has to face her father or work with an ex boyfriend whose relationship with her ended badly. She likes to pretend that it doesn't affect her but I know it does. I know because I'm the one she comes to for comfort after a bad day. But she can't come to me today. She's just going to go home alone and have no one to talk to about this.

I love her. I really do. She just needs to understand how much.

I meant what I said. I'll give her as much time as she needs to sort herself out and we can move forward at her pace.

If she has feeling for me does that mean we have a chance to be together? And have out child and raise him or her in a proper family. I hope so. I just don't understand why she thought that it would be so complicated.

Leo was right. I feel good now that she knows. It hurts seeing her upset but I have hope that it will all turn out for the better and that's what feels good.

I love Nikki. Nikki knows I love her. She might love me. Wow – big night!


	23. Chapter 23

When Nikki arrived at work the following morning Harry could tell she wasn't her usual self. She looked incredibly tired and didn't seem to have bothered with much make up or fussed with her hair. She had also headed straight to her own desk without any persuasion needed on his part.

"Morning." She said, with cheeriness that Harry could tell was forced.

Harry greeted her in his usual way and decided to try and get straight to the root of the problem. He knew what it was about but had no idea what he had confessed to her last night would have taken such a toll on her.

After a few minutes he asked: "Are you okay, Nikki?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" She replied with the same falseness as before.

"You look tired." Harry stated.

"That's basically a polite way of saying that I look like crap."

"I didn't mean it like that Nikki. I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you. Is this about what I said last night?"

Nikki nodded her head in reply and Harry could see tears threatening to fall down her face again. He hated to see her upset. It killed him inside.

"Did you mean it?" She asked him, repeating her words from last night. This time, however, Harry's answer was a lot more definite.

"Yes. Every word." He replied, and hesitantly reached up to wipe Nikki's tears away from her face, smiling at the feeling of her skin against his. She smiled at him and he could tell that she felt the same about his touch. This alone was a comforting thought to Harry who had also been awake all night with worry.

"Then I say we can give us a go." She said and Harry's face broke into the biggest grin she had ever seen.

"You mean it?" He asked in shock.

"As long as we take it slowly. I don't want things to get awkward between us again."

"Okay, I promise I won't push you to go faster than you want to."

This was what Nikki loved about Harry. He was such a gentleman. It was then that she could tell exactly how much he cared about her and knew it would hurt both of them so much if they were to lose each other.

Harry noticed the worried that was suddenly on Nikki's face and began to panic that he had said or done something wrong.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I'm just scared of losing you Harry. I'm no good with relationships. You know that as well as anyone the amount of times I've come to yours to cry on your shoulder and steal your wine. I don't want things to go wrong." She admitted.

"I won't let that happen. We won't let it happen. I want this more than anything and I think that you do too. I know this will work out." He said, reaching for her hand and stroking that back of it gently with his thumb to comfort her.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"For what?"

"Always saying the right thing."

"You're welcome." He replied. "So, Dr Alexander, how would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

"I would like that very much Dr Cunningham." She giggled, making Harry's heart jump delightedly at the sound.


	24. Chapter 24

**New chapter for you. Hope you like it. Please review - you know you want to ;)**

Nikki was panicking. She only had two hours until Harry was coming to pick her up and had no idea what to wear. Nothing she tried on looked right. Why was she finding it so hard? Harry saw her every day at work. He saw her in the early hours of the morning when they were called out on cases. Hey, he'd even seen her naked. Surely he wouldn't care what she wore. She knew that she was just worrying because it was their first date and she wanted to look okay because when she was happy with how she looked her confidence was given a massive boost, something which she really needed right now.

After a while she settled for the red dress she had worn to the Christmas party last year, because she remembered Harry commenting on how nice she looked in it. Nikki felt herself blushing just thinking about it.

The dress was mid-length and had a halter-neck. It clung to her body in all the right places and flowed out slightly at the bottom. It was simple but Nikki liked it. She curled her hair and clipped it at the back so that it fell over her right shoulder, adding probably about half a can of hairspray to keep it in place. She had also decided that tonight would be the perfect opportunity to wear her new black strappy heels that she had treated herself to during her argument with Harry, knowing that soon her ankles would be too swollen and she wouldn't be able to wear than for ages.

Harry was standing outside Nikki's house, too nervous to ring the doorbell. He wasn't sure why he was so worried. He saw Nikki all the time. Why should this be any different? 'Because it's your first date' He thought, in answer to his own question.

Nikki heard the doorbell ring at ten to eight. Was it Harry? He was early. Why was he early? She wasn't ready. Okay then, maybe she was ready to go out; just not mentally ready for the idea of a date with Harry Cunningham. The man she loved. The man who had been invading her dreams and almost every waking thought since she first met him when she broke in to their lab and never left.

The door opened, closely followed by Harry's mouth. He looked at Nikki, taken aback by how completely stunning she looked. He didn't think she had ever looked so beautiful.

"Hi." He managed to say when he heard Nikki coughing, hinting at him to stop staring.

"Hey." She replied. "Wait there I'll just grab my bag."

Nikki disappeared into her house and came back a minute later, shocking Harry all over again by how amazing she looked. He couldn't believe that she had actually agreed to go out with him. He just hoped she wasn't disappointed or regretting her decision.

"So, where are you taking me?" Nikki asked, slipping into Harry's car.

"It's a surprise." He replied.

"Oh come on, I hate surprises." She whined.

"Tough." Harry teased, enjoying winding her up.

Nikki crossed her arms and pouted at him, trying her hardest (and managing to fail quite spectacularly) not to smile and give herself away.

They drove in silence for a while, both unsure of what to say to each other as they were in a whole new situation. It felt so different to all the other times they had gone out together. It appeared to be the same but so much had gone on between them in the past month and a half.

Half way through dinner and Harry and Nikki were back to their normal selves: teasing each other, flirting with each other. Only this time they were more honest about their feelings.

"Harry?" Nikki started.

"Yeah."

"Is it okay if we don't tell anyone about us just yet?"

'So there is an 'us' then.' Harry thought, happy that she had confirmed it and saved him the embarrassment of asking if they were actually together or not.

"Of course it's okay. We can take everything at your pace, I promise."

"Thank you."

"Can I ask why?" He asked, slightly worried about how she would react. He didn't want to appear as if he was prying but considering they were sort of going out and it involved their relationship he wanted to know, if only to be sure of how she was feeling.

"It's just, I'm worried people won't approve of us, you know, dating. As we work together it just might be seen as a bit..."

"Unprofessional" Harry supplied and Nikki nodded. "You're worried about what Leo would think, aren't you?"

Nikki nodded again. He always seemed to know what she was thinking. She wasn't quite sure whether to be pleased about that fact or not.

"It's just..." She started, then paused to try and find the right way of wording how she felt. "He's like a dad to me, well more of a father than my own anyway. I don't want him to think we're just getting together because of the baby."

"He won't think that" He assured her.

"How do you know?"

"Because he knows how I feel about you and he was actually the one who pushed me into telling you. Okay he didn't tell me to shout it at you in the middle of an argument while you were storming out of my apartment but he did tell me to 'do something about it' and I think he sounded pretty desperate as well."

Nikki giggled at this, relieved that Leo would approve of them dating.

"So do you still want to keep us a secret?" Harry asked, wanting to be sure of where he stood.

"For a while, yes. Do you mind?"

"As much as I'd like to be able to introduce you as my girlfriend to all those police officers who come in to our office and openly flirt with you I don't mind keeping it quiet if it would make you feel more comfortable."

"Thanks Harry." She smiled.

"You're welcome, beautiful."

Nikki blushed at this comment and looked away in an attempt to stop Harry from seeing the tears his words brought to his eyes, especially with the sincerity that he had spoken them with.

"What is it?" He asked. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's just... nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm being stupid."

"Probably." Harry joked. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm just not used to people calling me beautiful. I don't take compliments very well. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologise for it Nikki. And for the record, you are beautiful. I don't think you are told it enough."

"Try never." Nikki mumbled, although she hadn't intended for Harry to hear it.

"No one has every called you beautiful?" Nikki shook her head. "Well then it seems I have to make up for it then. I'm going to tell you all the time how beautiful you look. Hopefully one day I'll get you to believe it."

Nikki blushed again and giggled nervously, not used to all the attention and compliments she was getting. She was, however, incredibly pleased that tonight had gone so well, considering her apprehension towards it earlier. She felt more relaxed and at ease with Harry than she had done in a long time, probably due to the fact that they were both finally able to display their true emotions toward each other after years of keeping their feeling secret for fear of rejection and ruining their friendship. She smiled, feeling that finally life was working out for her.


	25. Chapter 25

The next morning Nikki woke up with a smile on her face. Despite her previous fears and apprehensions, she had had a fantastic night with Harry. He had been amazing. He didn't push her too far and was understanding when she said she didn't want anyone knowing just yet.

It was the end of the night that stuck in her mind the most though.

_Harry was driving Nikki back to her house. Neither of them had been drinking. Harry had promised that he wouldn't as he didn't think it was fair on Nikki, who wasn't able to drink due to the pregnancy, and also because he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself and didn't want to risk pushing her away forever._

_When they arrived, Harry walked round and opened the passenger door for Nikki. The perfect gentleman. Nikki giggled and got out of the car and walked over to her house, followed closely by Harry. He waited while she fumbled around in her bag for her key. How she could fit so much stuff in there Harry would never know._

_She eventually located them and unlocked her door._

"_Do you want to come in for a bit?" She asked._

"_No it's okay. I should be getting back."_

"_Oh. Alright then." Nikki replied, and Harry was sure he could hear a bit of disappointment in her voice. "Thanks for a lovely evening Harry."_

"_You're very welcome, beautiful." _

_Nikki blushed, still not used to someone... anyone... Harry calling her beautiful. Harry saw this and chuckled, but decided against making one of his trademark jokes._

"_I'll see you at work tomorrow. Night."_

"_Goodnight." He said._

_As Nikki was about to walk inside, Harry gentle grabbed her wrist and spun her round, planting a gently, yet completely full of emotion, kiss on her lips._

He was so sweet, so romantic. And what's more – he hadn't just tried to get her into bed after the first date like most other men she dated. No, wait, _all_ other men she had dated.

It had been a completely new experience for Nikki. She was so used to men just wanting her for her body. If she was honest she let them have what they wanted, because she thought it would help her get over Harry. Nikki wasn't quite sure how to react to this new situation. She had no idea that Harry could be such a gentleman. She was left feeling happy and fulfilled, loved even, after a date and not just used and dirty.

Nikki got ready for work relatively quickly by her standards. She just couldn't wait to see Harry. By the time she arrived she was buzzing with excitement and couldn't remember the last time she had felt this good. It obviously showed.

"Morning Nikki." Her boss called out from his office. "You look happy."

"Mhmm." She replied. "Had a great night last night."

"You didn't have a date did you? You're carrying Harry's baby, Nikki."

"Say it a bit louder, Leo. And I was out with Harry, if you must know."

Leo said nothing to that, but smiled at her and turned back to his work. He had a strong suspicion as to what went on the night before but decided to let them tell him in their own time (if there was anything to tell – which he was certain that if there wasn't by now there soon would be) and allow them their little secret for a while. It would also be fun for him watching them try to keep it under wraps at work. God knew they weren't the subtlest of people when it came to their emotions.

Harry was already at his desk when Nikki sat down. She had a feeling he was just as eager to get to work as she was, but knew it wouldn't be easy to get him to admit it so decided not to even try.

"Good morning Dr Alexander." He said.

"Dr Cunningham." She acknowledged, playing along.

"How was your evening?"

"A bit dull really." Nikki joked and Harry feigned a hurt look. "What about yours?"

"Incredible." He smirked. "I had a date with a beautiful woman."

"Oh really. What was she like?"

"Great. She was funny and gorgeous and intelligent, she's a pathologist actually."

"She sounds lovely. Are you seeing her again?"

"Definitely." Harry said and Nikki beamed. "You should meet her. I bet you'd get on really well."

Unable to keep up the act much longer, Nikki burst out laughing, making Harry's heart jump and both pathologists smiled. It was clear that they were happier than they had been in a long while, and obviously closer and more comfortable and honest around each other. It was the breath of fresh air their workplace needed, contrasting massively to the depressing work that they did.

"Shouldn't you two be getting on with your work?" Leo asked. "You look like you're having far too much fun." He teased, enjoying the looks on their faces when he interrupted them. Smiling, he retreated back into his office, safe from the banter that was going on outside, and was thankful that they had finally sorted themselves out.


	26. Chapter 26

A few weeks had passed and Leo was starting to get a bit frustrated that they hadn't told him they were together. He left them to it though, not wanting to ruin their happiness.

It was the day of Nikki's first scan and, of course, Harry had jumped at the chance to accompany her. They had both been given the morning off under the condition that they bring back a copy of the ultrasound picture to show Leo.

To say that Nikki was nervous was an understatement. She had spent the whole journey worrying and asking questions like "What if there's something wrong with the baby?" and "What if the doctor thinks that we will be terrible parents?" She had even tried to make Harry turn back at one point and cancel their appointment.

Harry, on the other hand, couldn't be more excited. He could barely wait until he would be able to see his child for the first time. He knew, being a doctor, that he wouldn't be able to see much but was still fascinated and overjoyed by the idea of a tiny human being that he had created was growing and developing at an alarming rate inside Nikki.

When they eventually got into the room and Nikki was positioned on the bed, Harry could see her physically shaking with nerves. The doctor had given them a few moments alone, sensing that the young couple needed some time. She had guessed that they were first-time parents, having met many before, often equally as nervous as the woman on the bed now.

"Everything is going to be fine, Nikki." Harry assured her for what felt like the hundredth time in the past hour.

"But what if it isn't? What if I can't even look after my own baby properly?"

"You are doing a fantastic job Nikki and I'm certain that you will be an amazing mother to this child when they are born."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Positive." Harry grinned, taking his girlfriend's hand to comfort her.

"Thanks Harry."

"You're very welcome, gorgeous." He replied, causing Nikki to blush. She was still not, and highly doubted that she ever would be, used to receiving compliments from Harry. "Now, I'm just going to get the doctor, okay?"

"Okay."

Nikki winced slightly as the cold gel came in contact with her stomach. Even with Harry holding her hand for reassurance she knew that she would only be happy when she was told that her baby was fine.

"Right, Dr Alexander. There's your baby." Said the doctor, pointing to a shape on the screen. "It's a little bit smaller than we would expect at this stage but not enough that I can see it being a problem."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It's unlikely that it will lead to any complications throughout the pregnancy."

Nikki's eyes filled with tears at the sight of her unborn child on the screen in front of her. Harry kissed her on the forehead and smiled. He was sure that he had never felt happier.

The doctor wipes the gel from Nikki's stomach and handed her a tissue, which she accepted gratefully and apologised for crying. She had, however, told her not to worry and that it was a perfectly normal reaction.

"I think we should tell Leo about us." Nikki said in the car on the way home.

"Okay, if you're sure that's what you want."

"It is. I don't know if I want everyone at work knowing yet though, but Leo is a good friend."

"How much longer are you planning on depriving me of the opportunity to be able to stop those police officers flirting with you and undressing you with their eyes." Harry joked.

"They don't do that."

"They do, Nikki. You just don't notice."

"You still used to flirt constantly with me before we got together."

"That's different." He protested, pouting like a child.

"How?" Nikki asked.

"I don't know yet. I'm still working on that part. I'll get back to you." Harry replied, making Nikki giggle. "So when are we going to tell Leo?"

"I was thinking when we showed him the scan."

"Okay then."

"Harry?" Nikki asked tentatively after a few minutes of them driving in silence.

"Yes."

"Can you tell Leo?"

"You don't want to?"

"I wouldn't know how to say it and..."

"And..." Harry prompted.

"I'm worried he won't approve." Nikki whispered.

"He already knows we are having a baby together and he's spent the last few years begging me to tell you how I feel, before I had even admitted it to myself. If anything, I think he'll be relieved." Harry said, reassuringly. "I'll still tell him if you want me to though." He added.

"Thanks."

"What would you do without me?" He joked.

"I wouldn't survive." Nikki teased and Harry poked her in the ribs, making her squirm.

"No, you wouldn't, knowing you and how prone to attackers and general accidents you seem to be"

"I'm not that bad." She protested.

Harry just scoffed and he parked the car in the lab car park.

"Okay. Let's go tell Leo." He said and Nikki gave him a nervous smile as they both got out of the car.


	27. Chapter 27

**Here's the next chapter. Sorry it's not very long but I hadn't uploaded in a while due to work and college stuff so thought I would give you what I have so far. Hope you enjoy it :)**

Leo looked up from his desk when he heard his two younger colleagues walking in hand in hand.

He found it quite odd, really. This was making it obvious, even for them.

Nikki let go of Harry's hand and practically skipped in to Leo's office.

"We've got the scan pictures!" She exclaimed and passed them to her boss.

Harry eventually caught up and walked in to the office, a lot more calmly than his girlfriend. If anything, Leo thought he looked a bit apprehensive. Nikki was half way through telling Leo every little detail about the scan and was sure he had never seen her so excited. She was behaving like a child on Christmas morning.

When his lover had eventually finished retelling the majority of the morning's events, Harry gave her a look and subtly indicated with his head towards the sofa the other side of Leo's desk. The younger pathologists sat down and Leo started to look worried.

"Leo, we have something to tell you." Harry started. "For the past few weeks..."

He trailed off, suddenly nervous but with no idea why. This was Leo, his friend.

"For the past few weeks Nikki and I..."

"Have been seeing each other?" Leo supplied, helpfully.

"What! You knew? How long have you? How did you?" Nikki was rambling.

"Come on you two. It's blindingly obvious. Even more so, perhaps, than when you were both secretly in love with each other."

Nikki blushed. She still hadn't told Harry she loved him, well not in so many words at least.

"I'm honestly surprised you were able to keep it to yourselves for so long, particularly you Harry." The older man continued.

"Do you mind?" Nikki asked quietly.

"Why would I? You're my friends, you're practically family, I want you to be happy."

"You don't think it's unprofessional?" She asked.

This time it was Harry who replied. "Nikki, we're having a child together. I think we've already crossed 'unprofessional', don't you?" He joked and his two colleagues laughed.

"As long as it doesn't affect your work it's fine." Leo added.

"Okay." Nikki said, visibly more relaxed. "But please don't tell anyone else yet. Actually, you can tell Janet. I wanted to invite you both round for dinner tonight anyway to celebrate our first scan."

"Hey, don't I get to come?" Harry asked, feigning being offended.

"No." She replied, her smile giving her away. "You can come round for about half seven. I'm cooking risotto."

"On second thought, I don't think I will come if you're cooking." Harry teased. Nikki just poked her tongue out at him and stood up.

"Come on, you. Lets actually get some work done today or we'll never hear the end of it." She said as they walked out of their boss' office holding hands.

'Finally' Leo thought and he, too, got back to work.


	28. Chapter 28

**Here you go, a bit of fluff for you :) I'm in a good mood because college doesn't start until 11:30 tomorrow, which means I'm not getting up at 6. Yay! Please review, you know you want to!**

For once, Nikki was actually ready before her friends arrived. She was slightly nervous that things would be awkward but put those thoughts from her mind. Today had been a good day. Her baby was fine, Leo was okay about their relationship and Harry, well Harry had been amazing all day.

The doorbell rang at quarter past seven, fifteen minutes before everyone was due to arrive. Nikki opened the door to find her boyfriend holding a large bunch of flowers.

"Hello." She greeted him, moving aside so that he could enter.

"Hey, I've bought you some flowers." Harry replied, looking very please with himself. "And I was wondering if you needed any help with the cooking."

"Thanks Harry, they're lovely. You shouldn't have. And you didn't want to help with dinner, you knew there wouldn't be much left to do now apart from adding the stock."

"And I can't help with that?"

"It's kind of a one person job."

"But it's practically the only thing I can do in the kitchen." He argued.

"That and burn everything." She retorted and went to check on the food.

Five minutes later the doorbell rang again, signalling the arrival of the other two guests. Nikki greeted them both and motioned for them to go through to the living room, saying that dinner would be ready in about ten minutes.

"So, exactly how long have you two been dating?" Janet asked the younger couple over dinner.

"Three weeks." Nikki replied, with a smile on her face.

"And you don't mind that she's carrying someone else's child?" She innocently questioned further, wanting to be sure that neither of her friends would end up hurt, even though it was quite clear that they were madly in love.

Harry and Nikki shot each other a look and shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"About that..." Harry started.

"It's yours?" The older woman exclaimed, clearly very observant and quick to catch on to things, part of why she was so good at her job. The younger man nodded and reached out to hold Nikki's hand.

"We were drunk." He said, unsure as to why he felt like he had to explain his actions.

"And to be honest I think it's the best mistake they have ever made." Leo cut in. "It would have been at least another ten years before you started dating and I don't think any of us could stand the sexual tension for that long."

"Oh come on Leo we weren't _that_ bad." Nikki said.

"You were, believe us." Janet replied and everyone burst out laughing.

Later that night when Leo and Janet had gone home and Nikki was curled up on her sofa resting her head on Harry's chest while he wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close to him, he noticed that she was being rather quiet.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm fine, just tired that's all."

"I can go if you want."

"No it's fine, you don't have to." She said, and then started to worry. "Unless you want to go, that is."

"I'd rather stay here with my beautiful girlfriend." Harry replied, causing Nikki to blush as he always did when he complimented her and her heart to leap a little when he called her his girlfriend. She smiled contently and snuggled up closer to Harry. "Are you sure there's nothing bothering you."

"No, it's just me being silly."

"So there is something." He countered.

"It's just when Janet said about me carrying another man's baby it made me feel dirty, like she thought I was a slut who just slept around."

"Firstly, Nikki, you are not a slut, okay? Don't ever call yourself one." He said firmly. Nikki started to interrupt him but he silenced her with a quick kiss before moving on. "And secondly, Janet didn't mean it like that, you know she didn't. She wasn't implying anything, I promise. She was just making sure we were happy."

Nikki thought about this for a moment and nodded her head in agreement.

"Sorry, I don't know why I acted like that about it. I guess I just took it the wrong way."

"You don't need to apologise, Nik."

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" Nikki asked.

"No it's okay I should be getting home. I don't want to be any hassle."

"You won't be, really. You can even stay in my bed with me." She said. "Not for sex, just to sleep." Nikki clarified, certain that she could see Harry scheming.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Harry smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead, before pulling her closer to him.

After about half an hour of comfortable talk, Nikki was starting to feel even more tired and decided to go to bed. She tried to get up but Harry quickly grabbed her, pulled her back down and starting tickling her, making her giggle and squirm.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked.

"Bed, you coming?" Nikki replied with a smile and turned to walk to her bedroom, Harry hot on her heels.


	29. Chapter 29

**Just another short bit of fluff for you, as I was asked nicely :)**

**Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are amazing :D**

When Nikki awoke the next morning she was conscious of someone else in her bed. Her thoughts immediately went to the morning after her and Harry slept together and she remembered who it was. Relieved to find that she was in her pyjamas, Nikki turned over and smiled at Harry, who had also just woken up.

"Morning gorgeous." He said and gave her a quick kiss. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Like a baby." She replied.

"Some babies don't sleep." Harry played along.

Suddenly, Nikki jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Harry followed her and was greeted by the sight of his lover being sick over the toilet. He walked over to her and held her hair out of the way and gently rubbed her back.

"Thanks." She said, smiling weakly.

"You're welcome. When did it start?"

"A couple of days ago."

"And you didn't tell me?" He asked, concerned.

"It's a perfectly normal stage of pregnancy, _Dr_ Cunningham."

"I know. I told you that you didn't have to go through this on your own."

"It's just a bit of morning sickness, Harry. It'll pass soon enough."

"I just worry that's all."

"There's no need, really." She got up and walked from the bathroom. "Now come on, you. We need to get ready for work."

"Nikki it's only..." Harry looked at his watch. "Shit! It's quarter to nine!"

"You should go home and get changed. I'll see you there."

"I have these clothes." He said.

Nikki looked him up and down. He was still wearing what he arrived in last night and it was all crumpled up after being asleep.

"You do..." She started. "But you now look a bit like a tramp and, quite frankly, smell a little." Nikki teased.

"Right, that's it." He said and ran towards Nikki who, anticipating his next actions, was already making her way downstairs. When he eventually caught up with her he pushed her onto the sofa and started tickling her.

"Harry get off!" She yelled through her laughter.

"Say you're sorry." He smirked.

"No." Nikki replied and tried to push him off her. Her attempts were futile, however, and eventually she gave up. "Okay, I'm really _really_ sorry."

"There, it wasn't that hard now, was it?" He said to a pouting Nikki.

"Go! Work! Now!" She commanded, pointing at the door.

"But..."

"I'll see you in about half an hour anyway."

"Fine then." Harry sulked and, after a quick kiss from Nikki, let himself out with a promise to see her later.


	30. Chapter 30

**WARNING: Extreme fluff and cheese alert. In fact it's fluffy cheese, to make up for the fact that I still had to go to college today despite the snow.**

"And where have you been?" Leo asked as Nikki rushed into the lab over an hour late.

"Sorry I wasn't feeling too great." She lied. "Morning sickness" Okay so she wasn't directly lying, merely missing out parts, well actually quite a lot, of the truth.

"Okay." Her boss said, looking doubtful. "You don't by any chance know where Harry is, do you?"

"No. Why should I know where he is? I'm his girlfriend not his keeper!" She replied, a little too hastily.

"Well I'll have a word with him about being late as well. Just remember to call next time if it's pregnancy related, alright?" Nikki nodded. "Good, go on then get to work."

A few minutes later Nikki looked up from her desk to see Harry come in. He smiled at her and was about to go over when Leo called him in to his office, no doubt to question him about not arriving to work on time.

When Harry came out of the office, Nikki could tell he was trying hard to suppress his laughter.

"What was your excuse then?" She asked as he sat down.

"I'm not too sure really. I rambled on a bit. Something to do with a road accident, puddles and marshmallows. It's not even raining." He chuckled.

"And you thought _that_ was the strangest part. How on earth did marshmallows come into the story?"

"I said there was a guy selling them along the road and you had cravings for them so I stopped to buy some."

"Didn't he seem suspicious that you didn't have any marshmallows?" She queried.

"I told him I ate most of them on the way here because I was bored being stuck in traffic behind the accident."

"Well that makes my story about morning sickness seem very dull indeed. Did he believe a word of it?"

"I doubt it. It was hard to tell, I was too busy concentrating on not bursting out laughing."

Nikki giggled at this and, forgetting that she was at work, leant in and kissed Harry passionately. Taken by surprise, Harry hesitated for a split second before deepening the kiss, stopping only after the desperate need of oxygen became apparent.

Unfortunately for them, Nigel had been walking past at the time and seen them.

"Dr Alexander, Dr Cunningham." He greeted them politely, trying to stifle a smile. "Let me just say: about bloody time!" And with that, he walked off, leaving two shocked pathologists behind him.

"What did he mean by 'about bloody time'?" Nikki asked.

"No idea but I seemed to get the impression Leo thought the same."

"Do you think we were that obvious?"

"Well put it this way; if we were as obvious as everyone makes out, we must've been incredibly blind." Harry replied and they both laughed.

"We can't have been that bad, surely."

"Oh, you were." They heard Charlie's voice from behind them. She laughed at the guilty looks on their faces, like children who had been caught stealing a cookie when their parents told them not to. "By the way, Dr Alexander, the DNA results you sent off for have just arrived. I'll leave them in the cutting room in case you can tear yourself away from Dr Cunningham for long enough to look at them.

"Thanks Charlie." Nikki smiled and, with a lot of protest from Harry, eventually managed to get up and compose herself, before going and getting on with the first bit of work for the day and it was already half past ten.

"Nikki, do you want to go out for lunch?" Harry called out to his lover in the cutting room about an hour later.

"Yeah sounds great. Just let me finish this PM." She shouted back as she squeezed the contents of the dead man's stomach out. It was strange how she felt completely fine about going out and eating whilst surrounded by cut up corpse. She supposed it was all part of the job, being de-sensitised to things like that. Nikki had also never been really squeamish; always the first to volunteer to help with dissections at school and a self-confessed workaholic.

Harry and Nikki walked out of the lab hand in hand, laughing and joking. Neither could remember a time when they had felt so happy. They no longer had to hide their relationship at work and everything was going perfectly.

"So where do you want to go?" Harry asked.

"I don't mind really, you chose."

"No this is your treat. We'll go wherever you want." He insisted.

"Awww Harry you're too good to me. " She giggled.

"You deserve it. You're prefect." Harry smiled back. "You're the one who is too good for me."

"I'm not!" She replied and playfully slapped him on his arm, which he then moved around Nikki's waist as they walked together.

Eventually they came across a little cafe in a little side street in central London. It wasn't very busy but looked really sweet and welcoming so Nikki decided to go there.

They chose to sit in the far corner on a little pink sofa. Their table had flowers on it and the menus were bound together with bits of ribbon. They each ordered hot chocolate and a cake and soon became completely lost in conversation with one another.

When they eventually arrived back at the Lyell Centre they realised that they had been gone at least two hours, rather than the half an hour they usually have for lunch. Despite this, they came in giggling and holding hands, just like when they had left.

"You two are making a habit of turning up late, aren't you?" Leo called out from his office.

"Sorry Leo we lost track of time." Nikki replied.

"Because _someone_ couldn't stop talking" Harry said, jabbing her in the ribs and making her laugh even more.

Leo beckoned them in to his office.

"Just because you've finally told people you are together it doesn't mean it can start to affect your working lives. As a friend I'm happy for you but as your boss I have to say, please arrive on time tomorrow."

"Okay Leo, we're sorry," Nikki said, feeling slightly guilty that she was putting her personal life before her work. Harry however was still laughing and, to prove a point, pulled his girlfriend closer to him and kissed her on the lips, a kiss which quickly grew more passionate.

Leo had to cough loudly several times for them to realise that they were still in his office.

"Do you mind doing that somewhere else? Preferably not when I'm paying you to work." He said, embarrassed.

Nikki mumbled an apology and the young couple walked out of the room.

"Harry!" She exclaimed when the door was shut. "Why did you have to do that? That was like a father seeing his daughter kissing. Do you have any idea how embarrassed I am?"

"You have to admit, the look on Leo's face was priceless."

"You're right but please don't do it again."

"Fine, if you don't want to experience my amazing kissing skills and special magic I'll have to put them to use elsewhere." Harry feigned hurt, his grin giving him away.

"You know I love your 'special magic' but not in front of Leo next time, okay?"

"Fine." He said, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

"Come on, let's get some work done."

Harry sighed. "If we must." And with that, the war for Harry's desk began.


	31. Chapter 31

**Sorry I've taken so long to update. Had mocks at college and work has been crazy because loads of people have taken time off over Christmas. On holiday now though so updates should be more regular. It's a lot more fun than revision. Big hugs to everyone who has reviewed this story so far :) Hope you like this chapter.**

Harry was bored. He still had a few hours left at work, thanks to Nikki who had volunteered them both to stay a bit longer to make up for being late twice that day because she still felt really guilty about it. Only now she had gone off to a scene and he was left in the lab alone with nothing to do.

Okay, that was a lie. He had a stack of paperwork and reports to do but just couldn't be bothered.

After running out of paperclips in his, now over three metres long, paperclip chain he made the painful decision to actually do something productive. Although, not five minutes later, his lover came back from her scene and bounded over to sit on his lap.

"Hello gorgeous, good scene?" He said, giggling at her child-like entrance.

"Yes. Very interesting. You would have loved it."

"We should've gone together."

"Harry, you know that wouldn't have worked. We would still be there in about five hours if we went together." She replied before noticing the paperclip chain. "I see you've been doing a lot of work while I've been gone. I'm sure Leo will be very pleased with you."

"I have done work!" He protested. Nikki gave him a disbelieving look. "Alright, alright maybe I didn't do any work."

"Didn't think you would. I know you too well." She stated with a smirk and kissed Harry on the cheek. "Now, shall we go home?"

"Your home?" He asked, hopefully.

"If you're good." Nikki teased.

Harry smiled innocently and drew an imaginary halo above his head with his finger, causing Nikki to giggle.

"I'm not convinced." She said. "But come on then."

Later that evening Harry was sat on Nikki's sofa watching crap television while Nikki finished cooking dinner. He had offered, well actually insisted, upon helping but she had declined and mentioned the pasta bake incident a few weeks ago.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" He called out.

"No its fine I'm almost done now. Actually, could you grab some knives and forks from the drawer please."

Harry sighed. "The things you ask of me."

"You offered." Nikki pointed out and hit him with a towel.

"I was being polite."

"Exactly. Now you can carry on being polite and help by setting the table."

"What did your last slave die of?" He teased.

"Food poisoning."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Harry replied with a smirk, earning himself a whip from the oven gloves this time. "Must you abuse me so much?"

"Yes." She replied simply. "Okay. Dinner's ready."

After they had eaten dinner and finished tidying up the kitchen, Harry and Nikki were cuddling up on the sofa, each with a mug of hot chocolate. Harry promised himself that he would try not to drink around Nikki while she was pregnant, and Nikki, who had protested a lot about this saying that it wasn't fair on him, was secretly touched by the gesture. They had been sitting in silence for a few minutes, both content in each other's company and comfortable enough with each other not to feel they needed to speak.

A while later, Nikki decided to voice the thought that had been playing on her mind the past couple of days.

"Harry, I've been thinking."

"I wouldn't do that too much, dear. You could hurt yourself." Harry teased and Nikki glared at him. "Carry on" He said with a smirk. Nikki turned around to look at him, allowing her to gauge his reaction to her idea.

"What's going to happen when the baby is born?"

"What do you mean?"

"Where will it live? I mean... I..." She stuttered, not sure what Harry would think of it.

"You what?"

"Do you want to move in with me?"

Harry looked shocked for a second and Nikki started to worry that she had said the wrong thing.

"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. I could have him or her for a week then you could or..."

"Shut up." He giggled at her rambling.

"Or it could live with me and you could visit whenever you wanted or vice versa..."

"Shut up." Harry tried again.

"Sorry if you though it was too soon. I mean we've only been going out a few weeks but we've known each other for ages and I thought maybe, but if you don't want to it's okay I just..."

This time Harry cut her off with a kiss which neither felt the need to deepen.

"Now she shuts up." Harry mumbled against her lips and he felt Nikki smile. "And for the record, I think it's a great idea."


	32. Chapter 32

"_Now she shuts up." Harry mumbled against her lips and he felt her smile."And for the record, I think it's a great idea."_

"Really?" Nikki exclaimed, shocked. "You don't think it's too soon?"

"I think we are about six years too late. Of course it's not too soon." He giggled.

"Thank you so much." She went to kiss Harry on the cheek, but he turned his head around so that her lips landed on his and started kissing her passionately.

"No, thank you for asking me to move in with you."

"You don't need to thank me Harry." She paused. "Actually, I can think of ways in which you could thank me." Nikki said, suggestively, and giggled when she saw Harry's face light up.

"You mean..." He said and Nikki nodded. "Are you sure? I don't want you to feel I'm pressuring you."

"Yes I'm sure Harry. I wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't." She smiled.

A while later they were both lying naked on Nikki's bed with huge smiles on their faces. Harry was tracing patterns absentmindedly on Nikki's stomach with his finger.

"It seems weird to think that there's a little person growing inside of you."

"I know. It still doesn't seem real, even after the scan yesterday."

"I can't wait until you start showing."

"It'll be a few more weeks yet. And even then I'll probably be the only one to notice it."

"Oh I don't know, I think I'll know your body pretty well by then." He smirked at her.

"If tonight was anything to go by then I think you probably will." Nikki teased and Harry grinned at her.

After a few minutes of silence, Harry whispered to Nikki: "Thank you."

"What for?" She asked.

"Being my girlfriend."

"You don't have to thank me for that Harry."

"I never thought this would happen. It feels so right."

"Awww is Harry getting all soppy?" Nikki teased and Harry glared at her. "I know what you mean though. I had been waiting for this for so long I had almost given up hope. I never even let myself believe that you liked me as more than a friend."

"Who says I even liked you as a friend?"

"Well, you told me you loved me." Harry made a noise of agreement. "And not in a normal way either." Nikki said and was rewarded with a pillow hitting her in the face, courtesy of Harry. "Not that I mind. I never was one for normal."

"You got that right."

"And it did have 'Harry' written all over it. Only you could say something like that while I was storming out of your apartment..."

"Old apartment" Harry interrupted.

"Oh yeah, sorry, _old_ apartment" Nikki corrected herself. "In the middle of an argument."

"Well any other way of saying it would have been boring, wouldn't it?"

"And we defiantly aren't good at boring and normal. We behaved like a married couple for six years before having sex and me getting pregnant. Then you told me you loved me and only after that did we actually get together. I think we went in reverse a bit, don't you?"

"Yes. We are certainly not a normal couple. It's hard to lead a normal life with you anyway. Every few months something happens and you get kidnapped, attacked or held at gunpoint."

"I'm not _that_ bad."

"You are." Harry retorted and the pillow he had thrown earlier made a return flight, hitting him in the face.

After about half an hour of comfortable chat, Nikki fell asleep and Harry wrapped an arm around her waist and snuggled up to her, dropping off soon afterwards.


	33. Chapter 33

**New chapter for you, hope you like it. Please review - I'll write faster! :)**

**Oooo last night at work I noticed someone had ordered a pizza under the name 'Nikki Cunningham' and it made me smile lol. Either someone has a very cool name or really likes Silent Witness. Let me know if it was one of you guys ;)**

Nikki awoke with a smile on her face the next morning and the sound of her water beating down from the shower in the next room. Confused, she looked around for Harry, in her half asleep state, was surprised to find him not there. When her mind finally caught up with her body she decided to surprise him by sneaking into the bathroom, knowing that the lock on the door didn't work.

She pushed open the door just as Harry was stepping out of the shower. Seeing her, he immediately reached for a towel to cover himself up, leaving Nikki giggling in the doorway.

"Aww I was enjoying the view." She teased.

"That good, was it?"

"Not really." Nikki joked and Harry feigned hurt.

"You wound me Nikki." He said, dramatically. "Right here." Harry pointed to his heart.

"I'm sure you'll survive. Now why don't we go back to bed?"

"Firstly, after the way you just treated me I don't think so." He said and Nikki stuck her tongue out at him. "And, secondly, as much as I love you we do have to be at work soon and I don't fancy being on the receiving end of an angry Leo for being late again."

"You didn't seem too bothered about being late yesterday." She commented.

"Yes well that was before you made us stay later because you felt guilty."

"It's not like you actually did any work."

"That's beside the point." Harry pouted.

Nikki walked over and undid the towel from around Harry's waist, letting it drop to the floor. She smiled appreciatively at his naked form and ran a finger down his muscular torso, then turned around and made her way into the kitchen to make them both some breakfast, leaving Harry standing in the bathroom wondering why his girlfriend was such a tease.

A while later, Leo walked out of his office just as Harry and Nikki arrived at the Lyell Centre holding hands and giggle about something the older man thought he probably didn't want to know about.

"Morning you two." Leo smiled. "Arriving together now are we?" He said, knowingly.

"You are so immature." Nikki giggled but Harry just smirked and nodded his head at Leo behind his girlfriend's back, causing his boss to laugh and attempt to cover it up with a cough.

"Yeah Leo stop being such a child." Harry said, sticking his tongue out.

"Actually we do have something to tell you. We're moving in together!" Nikki said excitedly.

"Really? It's a bit soon isn't it?" Leo responded, shocked.

Seeing his lover's face fall and sensing that she was upset because she thought Leo didn't approve, Harry cut in before she could make herself feel any worse with the worry:

"We've known each other for years and are having a child together. We know we haven't been officially together long but you know as well as anyone we've been as good as seeing each other for the past six years."

"I suppose so." He said, considering Harry's argument. "I just want you to be sure and not to rush into anything."

"We are sure, Leo, really." Nikki said.

"Well then I'm pleased for you." The older man smiled. Just then the phone started ringing in his office. "Right I'm going to leave you two to fight over this next case while I answer that phone. Please don't take too long I said someone would be down in twenty minutes and that was half an hour ago."

With that, Leo retreated into his office away from what he was certain would become another childish dispute between is younger co-workers.

Eventually it was agreed that Harry would take the case so Nikki took the opportunity to speak to Leo about something that had been bothering her.

"Leo, what if I'm not a good mother?" She asked her older friend.

"I'm sure you'll be a great mother Nikki, what makes you think you wouldn't be?"

"Well I didn't exactly have anyone to learn from and I'm too committed to my work. I don't have a clue what do to and my hours are all over the place."

"Every first time parent feels this way Nikki, I know I certainly did before Cassie was born. Besides, you have me and Harry to help you and I'm sure you'll be a natural when the time comes."

"But what if I'm a crap mother and the baby has a horrible childhood because of it. I don't want to put them through that especially because I know firsthand what it can be like." These last few words broke Leo's heart a bit when he heard the woman he thought of as a daughter talking about her horrible childhood, a subject which she usually steered clear of.

"You'll be a fantastic mother Nikki, trust me. This child is going to have so much love and you and Harry will make excellent parents."

"Thanks Leo." The younger woman said, happy that she still had a father figure to talk to about worries such as this even though her own was a complete waste of space in her eyes.


	34. Chapter 34

**OMG did you see Silent Witness tonight? What am I saying, of course you did lol. Tomorrow's preview looks so good. Eeeek a kiss! Anyway, onwards with my fic. Thanks for sticking with this. I hope you're not getting bored with all the fluff.**

A few weeks later and all of Harry's possessions were moved into Nikki's house (because it was larger than Harry's little apartment – which was now on the market). Nikki had previously noticed her jeans getting tighter and harder to do up so had rushed out to buy some maternity clothes in excitement, even though she didn't need them yet, much o Harry's amusement. She was still suffering from morning sickness but, at thirteen weeks into the pregnancy, the past few days hadn't been as bad as before.

This is why Harry was shocked to wake to the sound of his lover being sick over the toilet in the next room on Sunday morning. Hearing this, he instantly rushed to her side to comfort her, as he had been doing since he was aware of her morning sickness.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked in concern.

"Crap." Came Nikki's quiet reply.

"I thought it was stopping."

"Me too."

Harry got up and said "I'm just going to get you a glass of water, would you like anything else?"

"Marmite please."

"Marmite?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah, it helps."

"I'll take your word for it." He smirked.

"Oh and Harry, when you get back I have something to show you."

"Okay."

Harry went downstairs wondering why pregnancy was so strange that it had Nikki craving Marmite, something which she usually hates, and not thinking about what it was she wanted to show him.

After getting the water and Marmite, Harry returned to find Nikki sitting in her underwear smiling.

"Harry! Come and see!"

"What is it?"

"I'm starting to show!" She giggled.

Harry placed his hand on Nikki's stomach as she beamed with happiness.

"I'd been noticing it for a while now but didn't say anything and now it's getting obvious." She continued, although Harry doubted that it would be that obvious to anyone who didn't know what they were looking for.

"When are we going to start telling people, other than Leo and Janet I mean?" Harry enquired.

"Tomorrow?" Nikki suggested, hopefully.

"If that's what you want."

Nikki nodded and leant into Harry's arms and sighed contently, happy that life was finally working out for her.

Later that afternoon, Harry and Nikki decided to make the most of the nice weather on their day off and go for a walk in the park. Harry had bought them both ice creams and they were currently sitting on a bench looking out onto a pond, which they had agreed to take their child to some day and let them feed the ducks.

"Have you started thinking about names yet?" Nikki asked as caught a drip of her melting ice cream on her tongue.

"Not really, do you have any ideas?"

"I was thinking maybe Bethany for a girl, or Jasmine. And possibly Richard if it's a boy. I don't know though. Do you like any of them?"

"Yeah I think Jasmine is a sweet name. Are we going to find out the sex at the next scan?" Harry enquired.

"I don't mind. Do you want to?"

"Yeah, I think so, but only if you do."

"I think we should then." She said and leant over to lick Harry's ice cream.

"Hey what's wrong with yours?" He exclaimed.

"Nothing it's just that your ice cream tastes better, just like your desk is nicer to work at." She replied.

"If you say so." Harry resigned, chuckling at his lover's childishness.

"Can I have your ice cream then?"

"No."

"Pretty please." Nikki pleaded.

"Not even with a cherry on top." He teased. "Besides, who bought them?"

Nikki gave Harry her best puppy dog look and he eventually gave in and let her have a bit more of his ice cream, but only after scooping a bit onto his index finger and wiping it on her nose, to which Nikki giggled helplessly.

They stayed there talking for hours and didn't notice it getting dark and lots of people leaving as they were too deeply engrossed in conversation with one another

"Harry?" Nikki asked later that evening while they were still sat on the same bench as before.

"Yeah?"

"I love you." She whispered and looked up at him adoringly, the smile on her face reflected on his.

Harry felt a warm feeling in his heart when he heard his lover say those three little words he had only recently allowed himself to believe she would ever feel, let alone tell him. In that moment he could barely believe his luck that the woman sat next to him was his girlfriend and carrying his child and that she loved him.

"I love you too, Nikki."


	35. Chapter 35

"Are you going to tell your mum about us and this little one?" Nikki asked Harry, gesturing towards her stomach, as they were lying in bed that night.

"Eventually. It seems like she hasn't stopped talking about grandchildren for ages. It's always 'Are you seeing anyone?' and 'Is it serious?' instead of 'How are you?' and 'How's work?'"

"Awww is poor little Harry feeling a bit left out." She teased and Harry pouted at her.

"You're mean to me!" He exclaimed, faking pain.

"You love it." Nikki said playfully.

"Do I?"

"Yes."

Harry leant over and kissed Nikki on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Hearing those words again made Harry's heart jump happily as his lover snuggled up closer to him and he started to play with her hair. Nikki sighed contently, feeling comfortable and secure in Harry's arms.

"Are you going to tell your dad that you're pregnant?" Harry asked, tentatively, not sure how his girlfriend would react to his question, knowing of her rocky relationship with her father.

"No." She said, resolutely.

"He might want to know that he's about to have a grandchild."

"He doesn't deserve to know." She screamed. "He doesn't see me as a daughter, Harry, you know that better than most. I'm just someone he comes to for money or to get bloody post mortems done on his stupid, dead child of a wife."

"Okay, as long as you're sure." He said, hating her father for causing her so much pain. As he continued to run his fingers through her long, blonde hair, he murmured calming words to her and told her how Victor doesn't deserve her as a daughter and that she is too good for him.

They sat there like that for a few minutes, Harry comforting Nikki, until she broke the comfortable silence they had fallen into.

"Sorry." The young woman whispered, wiping away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.

"It's fine, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"I don't blame you, you know, for doing that PM on Kim. You weren't to know he was lying about telling me."

"I know you don't blame me, Nik. I just hate that you're father is such a bastard to you."

"Thanks for being here, Harry."

"I live here." He stated, confused.

"I mean for still being in my life. Most men would have run a mile if I had told them I was carrying their child."

"I love you, I would never leave you Nikki."

She smiled at those three words that she had waited six years to hear Harry say.

"That's good because if you did I'd be forced to set Leo on you." Nikki smirked.

"Now I'm scared." Harry sarcastically replied and Nikki giggled, making Harry's heart leap at the sound.

They soon settled into a peaceful sleep, each with dreams of content family life with their partners.

The next morning Harry woke before Nikki, who was unusually asleep at the time she was normally rushing to the bathroom with another bout of morning sickness.

Realising that she must be tired and that they didn't have to be in work for another three hours, Harry decided to make Nikki breakfast in bed. Although his cooking skills usually were only pushed to making toast without burning the house down, he decided to venture a bit further into the culinary world, previously unknown to him, and looked up a recipe for pancakes online.

After three failed attempts, Harry finally perfected a pancake that he deemed just about worthy for human consumption. He made a couple more and stacked them up on a plate with honey drizzled over them. He placed this on a tray with a glass of orange juice and, as a joke, a jar or Marmite.

Just as he was about to bring it upstairs to Nikki, however, he heard footsteps and she appeared, looking incredibly tired, at the door of the kitchen.

"Morning gorgeous." He smiled and she mumbled a greeting in return. "I was going to bring you breakfast in bed."

"It's not too late." She said, and slowly made her way back to the bedroom. Harry followed closely behind, inwardly cursing himself for having poured too much juice into the glass as he feared it would spill over the edges any second.

Nikki got back into bed and grinned at her boyfriend as he placed the try on her lap.

"Where's yours?" She asked.

"In the bin. There wasn't enough pancake mix after the first few were either burnt or never cooked properly and turned into some strange mush." He replied and Nikki giggled at his apparent lack of domestic skills.

"Are you sure they are safe to eat then?" She teased.

"Probably not." He said. "I might have to try them first just to make sure."

Harry grabbed the knife and fork and cut a corner off and put it in his mouth.

"Mmmmm, delicious." He taunted her, taking another mouthful.

"Hey, they're mine!" Nikki screeched and reached over to take back the cutlery.

"I don't think you deserve them after questioning my cooking ability."

"Share them?"

"Okay." Harry replied.

When they arrived at work with their current record of being only ten minutes late, Harry was getting more and more excited about telling everyone their news. Nikki shared his enthusiasm, but was also slightly apprehensive of what people would think. They weren't stupid and when they found out how far along she was they were bound to notice that the pair of pathologists weren't an item when the baby was conceived.

Fortunately, as Harry had pointed out previously, they were all nice people and wouldn't judge them. They would probably be pleased for the catalyst in getting them together and the explanation of their awkward silence a few of months back, which they had since learned made pretty much the whole lab miserable after the initial couple of hours being happy for the rare moment of peace.

Harry's prediction had been correct. They received many congratulations from various lab techs and other staff, Charlie giving Nikki a hug and Zak and Harry exchanging what looked from his girlfriend's perspective to be a private joke that she would probably question him about later if she remembered or had the energy.

About half way through the morning Harry and Leo had both been called out to a double murder in a nearby street so Nikki was left sitting at her boyfriend's desk typing up some notes from a recent gruesome case.

She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she jumped slightly when she heard the phone on her desk ringing. Noticing that it was a call from reception, she picked it up and greeted the woman, Natalie, on the other end of the line.

"Hi Natalie."

"_Morning Dr Alexander. Congratulations."_

"It's Nikki." She said patiently. "And thanks."

"_No problem. There's a man out here to see you."_

"Okay thank you. Did he say who he was?"

"_Victor Alexander."_

**Dun dun duuunnn...**** hehe ;) Please review, I love hearing what everyone thinks :)  
**

**Georgie xx  
**


	36. Chapter 36

**Warning: a couple of mentions of a sensitive topic in this chapter.**

"_...There's a man out here to see you."_

"_Okay thank you. Did he say who he was?"_

"_Victor Alexander."_

Nikki dropped the phone. All that could be heard, apart from the low hum of the various computers and equipment running in the lab, was Natalie's voice coming from the phone left dangling by its chord off Harry's desk.

She wasn't scared of her father, not really. She was an adult now and could do what she wanted. He didn't have that control over her and wouldn't dare be violent with her now. He probably only wanted to see her for money, as she had mentioned to Harry the previous night. This is what she kept repeating to herself over and over in her mind as she slowly grabbed the phone and told Natalie to send him in.

No matter how many times the sensible part of her brain told her that letting him into her life again was a mistake, she felt compelled to do it despite knowing the pain that there was a 99.9% chance of him causing her.

As Victor Alexander appeared at the doors to the office, Nikki was surprised not to smell any alcohol on him. She took this as a good sign and stepped towards her father, giving him a small, half-genuine and half-forced, smile.

"Hey Niks." He said, sounding genuinely pleased to see her. Whether that was because he was her dad or because she had money Nikki didn't know.

"Dad." She greeted.

"Don't I get a hug? I haven't seen you for ages."

"Depends on why you have come to see me." Nikki replied, still cautious.

"I missed you." He said but Nikki was still unsure if he was being genuine. "Come on, Nicola; give your old man a hug." He coaxed. 'Shit' she thought. He had called her 'Nicola'. That was never a good sign as a child. Despite being an adult now and able to stand up for herself, she still felt compelled to do what he was asking her out of habit and fear.

After embracing his daughter, Victor stood back and straightened his jacket.

"So why have you come?" She asked.

"Listen, Niks, I've run into a bit of money trouble and I've lost my flat. It's nothing too serious, don't worry. I was just wondering if I could come and stay for a while."

"No." She said firmly.

"Come on, Niks. It will only be for a week; two weeks tops."

"I said no dad."

"Nicola." He warned and the young woman felt a stab of fear flash through her. Determined to remain strong, however, Nikki stood her ground.

"You can't. I'm living with someone and I doubt he'll want you round."

"I'm sure your latest cheap fling won't mind me stopping over for a few days. I doubt you'll be with him by the end of it anyway. You're notoriously bad at relationships, Niks, everyone knows it. Besides, the guy must be blind to want to be with you. You're a hideous, filthy slut."

"How dare you! Get out! NOW!" She screamed at him.

Victor flinched slightly at the sheer tone and volume of her voice, although he quickly managed to regain his composure.

"Nicola. You know you don't talk back and you know not to shout at me."

"I'm not a child any more, dad."

"But you're still weak, little Nikki."

"Go away." She yelled. "I won't let you come in to my life and ruin it again. You did it enough in South Africa. I was glad when you left."

"But you're mother wasn't, was she? You were a selfish little brat who didn't care how much she was hurting and just looked out for herself."

"How was I supposed to do any different? We pretended we were a normal happy family but we weren't, were we?"

"You know what happens when you start an argument with me Nicola, don't you? You lose. You always lose." He said and slapped her round the face. She stumbled backwards, only just managing to regain her balance by leaning on her desk. She raised a hand to tentatively reach her cheek but flinched away at the unpleasant sensation.

Victor just laughed at her. "See, still the pathetic little girl you always were. Never even fought back. Poor little Nikki." He spat.

What neither father nor daughter had noticed was that Harry and Leo had returned from their scene just in time to catch the end of the argument. By the time they realised that they had an audience Harry was already half way across the lab and Leo not far behind in a feeble attempt to stop him doing anything stupid.

"Get away from her you bastard!" Harry yelled. He was about to give Victor what he felt he deserved when he heard Nikki let out a small gasp. He looked around and saw Leo tending to her face. There was something very child-like about her at that moment and Harry restrained from punching her father in order to go and comfort her.

Victor took this opportunity to flee but Leo was hot on his heels, when some sort of fatherly instinct kicked in that he had assumed had been lost with Cassie. He shut the glass door behind him and the young couple could still see their boss shoving Victor against the wall and screaming at him, although neither could focus on what he was saying as they were both too busy relying upon each other for comfort.

"I'm sorry he hit you, Nikki." Harry whispered whilst softly stroking her hair, being careful of where he could see a bruise beginning to form.

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry too. I'm sorry you had to see that."

"I should have stepped in earlier."

"You weren't to know he would do anything like this." She said and Harry could see in her eyes that she meant it. She really didn't blame him. 'That's good' he thought 'because I blame myself enough for the both of us'

Nikki snuggled up closer to Harry and they sat there in silence for a few moments, before Harry broke it.

"Nikki?" He asked.

"Mhmmm." Came her mumbled reply.

"Has he ever hit you before?"

Harry noticed that Nikki tensed a little when he said this. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. Wanting to be completely honest with Harry, she nodded her head slowly.

"Sometimes he would when I was a child. It didn't happen often and mum never found out. I didn't say anything though. I always thought I deserved it. I probably did."

"You didn't, Niks. Don't ever think that."

"Sorry." She said quietly.

"You don't need to apologise, just believe me. You didn't deserve what happened then and you didn't deserve that just now."

Nikki suddenly remembered something that her father had said to her about Harry leaving her and panicked that he had heard and was going to take his side.

"How much of the argument did you hear?" She questioned.

Harry's throat constricted slightly. He didn't want Nikki knowing how long he had been standing there and that he could've stopped what her dad had done to her; yet felt that he should repay her honesty from earlier. He knew it couldn't have been easy to admit that her father had abused her as a child, especially knowing how Nikki loved to be seen as strong and in control.

"I came in when you said you were living with me." He said and Nikki took a minute to digest this information, leading Harry to worry that she blamed him for her dad hitting her.

"So you heard what he called me?"

Relieved that Nikki's thoughts didn't seem to be along the same lines as his, he nodded his head solemnly.

"You don't think I'm a 'hideous, filthy slut' do you?"

"Of course not. I'm not going to leave you, Nikki. I love you. You don't ever have to worry about that happening, okay?"

"Okay." She agreed.

"Good." He smiled. "Now let me have a look at your cheek."

Reluctantly, Nikki pushed her hair behind her ear revealing a large bruise to the side of her face.

"How bad is it?" She asked.

"It will fade."

"You didn't answer my question."

"There's a bit of bruising but, like I said, it will fade soon enough."

"Okay. Can you pass me my bag please, Harry?"

Harry leant over to grab his lover's handbag from his desk and handed it to her. She opened it up and instantly found a pack of painkillers and her bottle of water. She swallowed two tablets and put them back in her back, laughing at the questioning look Harry was giving her.

"I'm a woman. I come prepared for everything." She stated simply, in answer to his silent query. Harry merely rolled his eyes in response and pulled her into a tight hug which neither pathologists wanted to end.

**Hope it's okay. Would love to hear what everyone thinks as always :)**

**Georgie xx  
**


	37. Chapter 37

**Bit more angst for you, promise the fluff will be back soon if you want it. I'm just experimenting with writing different things at the moment. Love reading reviews if you have time and always want to know how I can improve :) Hope you like this chapter.**

"How can you just do that?" Harry asked his lover as they remained seated on the lab floor.

"Do what?"

"Carry on like everything is normal after what your father just did."

He was concerned about her. Of course Harry knew that Nikki loved to been seen as a strong woman, despite the child-like side he had seen only a few minutes ago, but he reckoned that this was taking it too far.

"It's not a big deal, Harry."

"He hit you, Niks."

"I'm fine. Please just drop it." She said, tears threatening to fall again from her eyes.

"Look, we both know that's not true."

Nikki turned away from Harry and tried her best to hide the fact that she was wiping away the tears.

"Nikki, are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" He asked, calmly. She merely sighed and shook her head. "Please?" Harry pleaded with her.

"I've told you it's not a big deal and I mean it, Harry. He's done it before. I'm used to it now. I can't lock myself in my room and cry for weeks whenever someone hurts me, especially not my dad. Life goes on. I'm certainly not worth the hassle."

Harry's heart broke a little when he heard the dejected tone of her voice. He squeezed her tighter into the hug and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"You are worth it, Niks, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"I'm not. Like dad said: you'll realise that soon enough. He's right, why would anyone want to be with me?"

"Because you're beautiful, intelligent, feisty, caring," He listed, Nikki's blush becoming more prominent after each adjective. Adding on as an afterthought, he said: "and an amazing lover." She giggled slightly at this last statement and turned around to kiss him on the lips.

"There is one thing though, Niks. Don't get mad at me I just want to ask you something."

"Okay." She agreed.

"Why did you never tell me about this?" Harry asked and felt his lover tense once more in his arms. Gently stroking her hair, he continued: "All those times you came to see me when he had upset you, you never once mentioned your relationship with him as a child, apart from agreeing that you were happy in South Africa when quite clearly you weren't."

"We were happy, just sometimes I had to act happier than I felt." Nikki responded.

"That's not what I asked."

"Do you really want to know? Really?" She questioned in a raised voice.

"Yes." Harry stated simply. "I love you." He added, as if that explained his question.

"Because I was ashamed! Because I'm to bloody proud to admit that my dad used to hit me as a child! Because I'm weak and pathetic and don't expect anyone to love me or even care about me! There, is that what you wanted to hear?" She was shouting by now and Harry realised that he had pushed too far too soon. He knew he should have let her tell him in her own time and now she was angry and hurting and he felt that he had caused it.

"Sorry Nikki, I had no idea."

"Why would you? You don't know what it's like - living in fear of someone who is supposed to love you. Your mum did but you were just oblivious like my mum. Where was she, Harry? And where were you?" Nikki yelled. Harry visibly flinched away from her words and Nikki could tell she had taken it too far by bringing his parents into it. He didn't deserve that, but she could tell it was too late when she saw the pain her words had brought to his eyes. She moved away from him, cursing herself for letting her hatred for her father make her hurt Harry, who just sat there motionless, shocked by his lover's outburst.

Unable to cope with the pain that she has caused him, Nikki got up to leave, pushing past Leo as she went, who had been stood outside and heard the whole thing. Wiping her tears away, Nikki left the office and swiftly made her way to the car park.

"Well are you going to go after her or am I?" Leo asked.

"You can."

"Do you really think she would rather see me than you? You have to help her Harry, or at least be there for her through this. You know her better than anyone and, besides, I still have an office to run. Now go!" The older man commanded, knowing that Harry had already forgiven her.

With that, Harry sprinted after her, desperately hoping that he wasn't too late. Luckily for him, Nikki was still fishing out her car keys when he arrived. Cautiously, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and gave her soft hair a kiss.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I should never have said that. It was unfair of me to bring your parents into this."

"I forgive you. Just so that you know, you can always talk to me about it, whenever you want."

"Thank you. Really, I mean it." Nikki replied honestly.

"I know you do." He said. "Now are we going to go back to work or do you feel like going home?"

"Leo will be mad if we go home."

"I'll deal with him. It's your choice, today has been hard for you and I think Leo will agree that you could have the rest of the afternoon off, if you want it."

"Only if you do too."

"Okay, it's a deal. You get in the car and I'll quickly let Leo know."

"I love you, Harry."

"I love you too." He said and kissed her bruised cheek lightly.


	38. Chapter 38

**I hope you like this chapter and don't hate me by the end of it. And yes, Immortal Spud Thief, they will 'give Nikki's father a bit of talking to' don't worry ;)**

Harry woke to the sound of Nikki talking in her sleep. She didn't look peaceful like she normally did and was shaking and sweating, apologising over and over to persons unknown. He glanced at the clock, which read half past two, and then gently shook Nikki to wake her.

The blonde woman yet out a slight whimper of fear, not knowing where she was, but relaxed immediately when she saw her lover in the bed next to her.

"What happened?" She asked, wondering why they were both awake at this hour.

"You were having a nightmare." He said and Nikki nodded. "Was it about your father?" She nodded her head again.

"Is it okay if he stays for a few nights?" She asked cautiously.

"WHAT?" Harry yelled, causing Nikki to jump slightly and flinch away from him. "After what he did to you today? Do you really think I'm going to let him in this house?"

"He doesn't have anywhere to go. That's why he came to see me yesterday."

"And you said 'no'. What made you change your mind?"

"I dreamt he died sleeping on the streets and came back to haunt me. He blamed me for his death and so did I."

"It was just a dream, Nik."

"I know but it scares me. He's the only family I have left."

"You have me." He reminded her. "And Janet and Leo. And this little one in here." He said, poking her stomach.

"But he's my dad, Harry." She pleaded.

"He'll only end up hurting you again." Harry said softly, imploring her to see his side and listen to reason.

"You make him sound like a monster."

"Well what sort of person beats an innocent child?" He replied in a slightly raised voice.

"It really wasn't that bad." She mumbled.

"Why are you sticking up for him, Niks? I don't want you anywhere near him, do you understand?"

"So now you're telling me who I can and can't see?" She yelled.

"I didn't mean it like that." He said, quieter.

"I've thought you were many things since I met you, Harry, but never once did I think of you as controlling. I guess I was wrong." She screamed at him and stormed out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind her like a child.

"Shit." He muttered to himself, running a hand through his already messy hair.

The one thing Harry didn't understand was why she still wanted to help and forgive the man who had let her down so many times in life. Although he understood her fear of her father dying, having been through the same thing she was dreading when his committed suicide, he didn't know how she could want him anywhere near her. He certainly didn't. The last thing Harry wanted was to have the man who abused the woman he loved living under the same roof as them both.

Meanwhile, Nikki was making her way to the living room after deciding that, despite wanting distance from Harry, wondering around in the rain in the early hours of the morning was not what she felt like doing.

She curled up on the sofa, realising how cold and uncomfortable it was without Harry to snuggle up to. Wiping her tears away, she thought back to her childhood. She remembered vividly the first time it happened, realising that she was doing a very similar thing at the time to what she was doing now.

_Nikki was sat on the sofa of her house in South Africa. Eight years old and in trouble at school for the first time. Her mother was still at work and her father had come to collect her at the end of the day. Her teacher, Mrs Porter, spotted them and asked to have a word._

"_Mr Alexander, I'm sorry to have to keep you here but I was wondering if I could have a quick word about Nicola." She said._

_Mrs Porter was a short, slightly large woman with dark curly hair which didn't quite reach her shoulders. On this occasion she was wearing a purple patterned blouse and black, cut-off trousers. Nikki liked her. She was certainly nicer that her previous teacher, despite sometimes being strict with the class. Most of the children realised it was necessary though, in order to stop the classroom ending up in chaos, especially after lunch when they were all hyped up on sugar._

"_Of course. Go on Niks, go wait outside." He commanded._

"_Oh no, actually I wanted her here as well." The middle aged woman replied. "You see, Mr Alexander, Nicola has been having a few problems with one of the children in our class." She started._

"_What kind of problems?"_

"_She says he's been calling her names." Mrs Porter answered._

"_He called me a loser." Nikki whispered. She was a very timid child and rarely mixed with anyone outside her small circle of friends until she was about eleven._

"_Allegedly. Anyway, this break time there was a bit of an incident in which Nicola punched this boy in the face." The teacher said._

"_You did what?" Mr Alexander yelled at his daughter, causing her to flinch quite visibly. He never normally shouted at her and she wasn't used to the tone of voice he used._

"_We are not taking any action this time" She said, and then immediately contradicted herself. "But if it happens again her place in this school could be in jeopardy. The boy in question didn't suffer any real injuries but his parents have been informed and it will go on her record. In addition to this, Nicola must stay until four in detention for the rest of the week." _

_Later that afternoon and Nikki was on the sofa. Victor had had a couple of glasses of wine but wasn't particularly drunk. He came in to the living room and looked at his daughter._

"_Why did you punch that boy, Nicola?"_

"_He made me angry. I know violence isn't the answer. I'm sorry."_

"_How would you feel if he hit you?" He asked, raising his voice slightly. When he didn't get a reply he continued. "Would you like to find out?"_

_He raised his hand and Nikki let out a whimper of fear. The force from when Victor's hand collided with her cheek sent her flying a couple of inches across the sofa._

"_You disappoint me, Nicola. Don't ever get into trouble at school again. Do you know how much you embarrassed me?"_

"_I'm sorry, dad, I'm really sorry." She cried, her face throbbing in pain._

_Victor left the room leaving Nikki frightened and curled up on the sofa. Her dad had never been violent with her before and seeing this new side to him scared her._

'What gives him the right to tell me who I can and can't see?' Nikki thought to herself. 'He's only got my best interests at heart.' She reasoned. She knew Harry wanted to protect her from her father but she wanted him to understand that despite everything he was still her dad, her only remaining blood relative, and deep down she loved him.

Realistically, she knew that letting her father stay would be a bad idea, yet she felt compelled to do it, like there was some force driving her. She decided it was probably the same thing that managed to get her into all the dangerous situations at work and rationally thought that she should keep herself safe and her dad as far away as possible, this was the scientist within her speaking. On the other hand, the part of her mind that made her want to believe in God and something on the edges of the conscious, unexplained moments of synchronicity, that part of her was sure the nightmare she had was a warning to let him stay. However, Nikki realised that she would never be able to silence this internal debate whilst still half-asleep and not with Harry. That's what she wanted above all else, to be with Harry.

As if reading her thoughts, Harry appeared at the door moments later to find his lover staring into space, as if completely disconnected with the world around her which, he thought, she probably was at this time of the morning.

"I'm sorry, Nikki." He said quietly, so as not to startle her. "I didn't mean to sound controlling. I just worry about you, that's all."

"It's fine. I know it must've sounded crazy to you but he is my dad and I still love him."

"Even after all he did?" Nikki nodded.

"Please can he stay? If he does anything I'll kick him out and never contact him again. I just want to give him one last chance."

Already regretting his decision, yet wanting to please Nikki, Harry nodded his head in agreement.

"Promise me you won't let him hurt you though."

"I promise. I'm not the weak little child he said I am, Harry. I can stand up to him." Nikki said, determined not to let him hurt her again.

"I know you can. I've seen you stand up to enough arrogant detectives to believe that." He smirked.

"Thank you. I know it can't be easy for you to agree to let him stay."

"I'm not doing it for him; I'm doing it for you. I know you want to make things right with him. If my dad was still alive I certainly would as well, despite all he did to mum. I know how you feel."

"I know. Even after everything they did we still want to believe they have some good in them somewhere."

Eventually, the young couple fell asleep on the sofa, cuddled up in each other's arms.


	39. Chapter 39

Victor Alexander awoke to the sound of his phone ringing at quarter past three in the morning. Seeing his daughter's name on the screen he smirked, and immediately accepted the call.

"Hey Niks." He greeted, then yawned.

"_Hi dad._" The young woman whispered nervously. "_I've been having second thoughts about letting you stay. I spoke to Harry and he was fine about it._" She lied. He wasn't fine and Nikki was well aware of it.

"Thanks baby, it means a lot. When can I come round?"

'Baby'? Her father never called her that. Even as a child it was 'Nik', 'Niks', Nikki' or occasionally something along the lines if 'Bitch' or 'Slut'. And then when she was in trouble it was always, without fail, 'Nicola'. She brushed these thoughts aside however, feeling content that he seemed to be finally treating her like a daughter.

Seeing Nikki smile, despite it being beautiful, worried Harry a bit. He didn't point out that she was smiling whilst talking to the man who had hit her only a few short hours ago but instead decided to let her relax in the child-like innocence and naïve behaviour that came with the prospect of re-building her relationship with her father.

"_Now?_" She asked.

"I'll be there in half an hour."

"_Okay I'll see you then._" Nikki said and hung up. She then turned to Harry and informed him that her father would be there soon and that they should start to set up an air-bed in the spare room.

"Why can't he just sleep on the sofa?" Harry asked, wondering why she would go to all the trouble of finding the air-bed and pump.

"I don't want him on the sofa." She said shortly.

"Alright." He replied. "Can I ask why?"

"I was on the sofa the first time he..." Then she started to whisper. "The first time he hit me."

Harry could tell that she really was ashamed of how her father treated her in the past, so much so that it pained and embarrassed her to say what he did out loud.

He reached over and engulfed Nikki in his arms, squeezing her tightly into a hug and tears started to form in her eyes.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing, letting him stay?" She sniffed.

"I think you need to spend some time with him and try and sort out your issues. At least that should give you some closure."

"Yeah but is it the right thing to do?"

"I honestly don't know, Nikki, sorry. I wish I could give you the answer, I really do."

"It's okay." She said, wiping her eyes. "Come on let's get this bed set up."

Not long after finishing sorting out her father's make-shift bed they heard the doorbell ring, echoing through the quiet house. The sudden sound made Nikki jump and shiver in fear and anticipation, realising that this visit could be make or break for her relationship with her father. Noticing her hesitation, Harry squeezed her hand in encouragement and nodded towards the door. She gave him a small smile and went to let Victor in.

"Dad!" She greeted as she opened the door. "Come in."

"Hey Niks." He replied and smiled at her. "Dr Cunningham." He acknowledged Harry with a small nod of forced politeness.

"Mr Alexander." Harry returned the greeting in a similar manner. The three adults engaged in awkward small-talk for about ten minutes before fatigue overwhelmed Nikki and she decided to go to sleep, Harry joining her knowing it wouldn't be a good idea for Nikki's sake if her was left alone with her father.

"We've made you a bed upstairs; you can leave your stuff in the spare room." Nikki said and started to guide her father there. "I'm sorry I can't stay up and chat, dad, I want to be able to catch up with you properly but I'm really tired."

"That's fine, sweetheart. I'll manage. Maybe I could see you in your lunch break tomorrow."

"Yeah that would be nice. Goodnight dad."

Harry, who had been standing at the door keeping an eye on Victor, noticed that throughout their whole strained conversation, and their talk in the hallway earlier, he hadn't even had the decency to apologise for hitting his daughter.

Nikki, on the other hand, hadn't noticed because she was too busy worrying about him getting angry and hurting her again, or worse: Harry. She wouldn't admit to anyone that she was still scared of her father, wanting to keep up her strong image and aware that being frightened of an abusive parent at her age made her appear weak and vulnerable, so she kept up the facade and tried to re-kindle her, already shattered almost beyond repair, relationship with her only living blood relative. He had been nice to her this evening and she hoped it would stay that way, even improve, if he stayed here for a while. Besides, she thought, Harry would certainly protect her if he started getting violent again, she was sure of it. He loved her, and she loved him.


	40. Chapter 40

The next day Nikki was nervous about going out. The bruise on her right cheek was noticeable and she was having problems covering it up. She groaned in frustration after another coat of makeup still failed to conceal the mark and threw her makeup bag on the floor.

"What's wrong?" She heard Harry ask from behind her where he was buttoning up his shirt.

"Everyone will be able to see it. They'll know I'm weak."

"Don't be silly, Nikki, it's barely noticeable, honestly." He reassured her.

"I can still see it." She replied. Harry walked over to her and lightly kissed the bruise. He then unpinned her fringe and let it fall over her face, hiding the mark.

"There you go. Perfect." He smiled.

Although still uncertain about her boyfriend's claims that it couldn't be seen, and sure that she wasn't 'perfect', Nikki was pleased that Harry cared for her and seemed to understand exactly what to do when she had looked pitifully at her reflection.

"Everyone is still going to know I can't stand up to him." She whispered. "What will they all think of me now?"

"They won't view you any differently, I promise. Everyone at work: Charlie, Nigel, Zak; they're your friends. They will worry about you but I know they will never think you are weak. And in the unlikely event that someone notices in the street, they will have forgotten all about in within five minutes, probably less, and you'll never see them again."

"I guess you're right. You're forgetting that we're working with Mumford at the moment, though. What will he say?"

"Nothing, if he knows what's good for him." He said and Nikki giggled, wondering how only Harry could make her laugh this way after they had been having a serious conversation seconds previously, and she didn't mind him doing it. Anyone else would appear insensitive but not Harry. That was one of the many things she loved about him.

Once dressed and ready for work, wearing a loose fitting blue blouse and her new dark jeans, a size larger than her older ones, Nikki went to talk to her father.

"Morning dad." She said as she saw him sat at the breakfast table drinking coffee and reading yesterdays tabloid paper.

"Hi Niks." The older man replied, clearly not bothered by her entrance but trying to make an effort all the same.

Nikki could sense the calm tone of his voice so pulled up another chair and sat next to him.

"Did you sleep alright?" She asked.

"Yeah fine thanks. I really appreciate you putting me up like this."

"It's fine as long as you don't hurt me again." Nikki whispered, still nervous after the previous day's outburst.

Realising that he was the cause of his daughter's fear, Victor covered her hand in his and gave her a reassuring smile. He wanted her to know he was really trying to rebuild their relationship and regain her trust - trust that was lost early on in her childhood and that he was certain would be difficult, near impossible, to get back completely.

"You don't need to worry about that, Nikki, I'm really sorry. You're a grown woman now and don't need me teaching you about your mistakes."

"Teaching me about my mistakes? Teaching me about my mistakes!" She yelled. "Is that what you call it?"

"I didn't mean it like that."

Nikki just acted as if she hadn't heard him.

"That wasn't teaching. It was abuse!"

She slammed her fist down on the table, shocking Victor. Hearing his lover shouting, Harry immediately made his way downstairs to her aid. He slowly came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, placing a small kiss on the top of her head and letting her know he was there for her.

"I know Niks and I'm sorry. You have to understand it wasn't easy for me. I was under a lot of stress back in South Africa. We were having money troubles and your mother was ill."

"I understand that but..." She started, before being cut off by Harry.

"No, Nikki. Don't say you understand. You know it was wrong. You know _he's_..." He said, gesturing with his head towards Nikki's father, "...just a sick bastard who has fun beating a defenceless child." Harry then addressed Victor directly. "How could you do that to her? Don't you have a heart at all?"

"Like I said, I was stressed. I needed the brat to take my anger out on." He replied, defensively. Harry's grip tightened around Nikki's waist hearing her father talk about her like that.

"How dare you, you fu..."

"Harry!" Nikki screamed, interrupting what she was sure would be a nasty, yet probably accurate, insult. "I know you were under stress in South Africa but what about when mum died and I came over here to live with you? What about those few months after Uni when I was staying with you to find my feet? What about yesterday?"

"Niks, I'm sorry."

"'Sorry' is not good enough this time dad. I want you out of my house!"

"Nicola..." He warned and she flinched, hating herself for doing so and hating her father for knowing exactly how to get to her. Harry felt his girlfriend tense in his arms and in that moment he had never wanted to hurt anyone more than the man making her scared like that.

Tears started to form in Nikki's eyes and this time she let them fall freely, no longer caring about looking weak in front of Harry, who would love her anyway, and her father, whose good opinion she found that she finally no longer sought.

She turned herself around in her lover's arms and cried quietly into his chest. Harry could feel her hot tears through his shirt and was aware of her shaking like a leaf in his firm hold.

"I think you should leave now." Harry said through gritted teeth. "Get your stuff and go. I'll give you two minutes and then I never want to see you near Nikki ever again. Do you understand?"

Victor merely gathered his few belongings from the spare room and left without a word, slamming the door angrily behind him.

"Thank you." Nikki whispered.

"It's fine, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

"It was my fault. I let him back into my life. I shouldn't have done that."

"I'm never going to forgive him for what he's done to you." He said. "And I'm never going to forgive myself for allowing it to happen."

"'My good opinion once lost is lost forever.'" She mumbled into his chest. "My very own Mr Darcy."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked, concerned.

"I'll be fine. We need to get to work."

"Probably wise before I fall out with another of my future in-laws." He said.

Nikki looked at him, shocked.

"Wh... what did you just say?"

"Wait right there." He said, pointing at her and smiling. He rushed up to their bedroom and returned seconds later with a small blue box.

Nervously, he sunk down on one knee, opened the box and asked:

"Nikki Alexander, will you marry me?"


	41. Chapter 41

**Hey guys, sorry it's been litterally months**** since I last uploaded but I've been so busy recently with college, exams, uni things, guy troubles and 3 jobs. I promise I'll try and upload again soo****n, this is just a short chapter while I get a rare quiet moment trying to avoid doing other more important stuff lol. Please review and let me know what you think, it may make me write quicker :) Ooo and thanks to harriet-2810 for motivating me to actually start writing again :) Enjoy! xx**_  
_

_"Nikki Alexander, will you marry me?"_

Nikki stared down at the sparkling silver ring in shock for a couple of seconds. Her fear and anger she had felt towards her father only moments previously forgotten. Similarly, her ability to speak seemed to have wondered off to some distant land as well.

After a few seconds, in which time itself appeared to have slowed down, making it feel like hours, Harry finally plucked up the courage to look up at his lover to try and gauge her reaction. Her mouth was slightly open and her eyes were fixated on a point not directly looking at the ring, however seemingly staring at his hand instead. Almost whispering, he repeated his question.

This brought Nikki out of her trance and she nodded her head, slowly at first and then more rapidly as she became more certain of her answer and the consequences of it. Tears that had been threatening to fall from her eyes were now flowing freely, smudging her carefully applied makeup that she had intended to cover the bruise from the previous day's encounter with her father.

"Really?" Harry asked, disbelievingly and Nikki looked up to meet his eyes for the first time since he had asked her.

"Yes." She whispered, both of them acting as if any loud noises or sudden movements would break their fantasy and send them hurtling back into reality, a place where neither of them thought they would want to be right now. Harry carefully took the ring out of its box and slid it on to Nikki's finger, before kissing her hand like a gentleman as she blushed at the attention. 'I never knew he could be such a romantic' she thought.

From somewhere in their bedroom Nikki's phone started ringing, breaking the silence and the 'magic' of the moment, which was her internal description of the happiness they both felt at that second in time.

"Ignore it." He whispered as he leant in to kiss her. Nikki responded briefly, neither of them feeling the need to deepen the kiss, before moving away slightly.

"What if it's Leo?" She questioned

"Ignore it." Harry repeated, chuckling. "I'm sure he'll be fine when he finds out why. I have a feeling he's been waiting for this to happen about as long as I have." Nikki kissed Harry on the cheek and got up, making her way to the bedroom and signalling for him to follow her.

"Well why don't we celebrate properly then?"

Reluctantly, Harry reminded her that they were both meant to be at work in 20 minutes but promised her dinner at her favourite restaurant and a 'celebration' later that evening. At this, Nikki giggled and, sighing, went to get ready for what promised to be an emotional day at work, hoping that the only change people noticed was the ring on her finger, rather than the bruise on her cheek.


	42. Chapter 42

**I know it's been a while but thanks to those of you who are sticking with me with this story.**** I know it's another really short chapter but it's really quite difficult to write from Leo's perspective I just thought it fitted quite well here and wanted to give it a try. I will try and get another chapter written for you as soon as possible :) Remember, reviews make me write quicker *hint hint* Hope you like this chapter**** :)**

A stab of guilt hit me when I saw Nikki walk through the door of the Lyell Centre this morning. I could see the faint bruise on her cheek, which she had obviously tried to cover up with layer upon layer of makeup, and the first thought to enter my mind was what I could've done to prevent it. I know neither me nor Harry could've known what Victor was going to do, Nikki had never mentioned this to either of us, but I can't help feeling responsible. She's like a daughter to me and I hate to see any harm come to her, or Harry. I just can't even begin to understand how a man, or woman, could bare to cause harm to their children. Just the thought of someone hurting Cassie still brings me close to tears.

Looking at them again, I saw something out of place. Well, not out of place I guess, just unexpected. A smile. Two, to be precise. After the previous day's events I'd have thought they wouldn't be feeling this happy. Not that I mind, I think it's great. I must make a mental note to find out what is making them so happy, after I make it clear how disappointed I am in them for being over an hour late.

"Leo! Leo! We have something to tell you!" Nikki yelled as she practically ran into my office.

"I'm hoping that it's an apology for being late." I said, in the sternest voice I could manage when my 30-something year old friends were acting like children at Christmas right in front of me.

"Not exactly..." She giggled.

"Nikki has just agreed to make me the happiest man on the planet!" Harry practically screamed at me. I don't think I've ever seen either of them this excited in all the time I've known them.

I should've guessed that was what had happened really, Harry had dragged me round practically every shop on London the other day to find the perfect ring. I just never thought he would propose this soon, considering how long it took him to admit his feelings for Nikki.

"Congratulations, you two! I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks Leo, sorry we're late though; we wanted to celebrate our good news." Too much information, Harry. It seems Nikki thought the same as she gently hit him on the arm and blushed in embarrassment.

"Well, it was lovely of you to share that with us Harry, but now I believe the two of you have some work to do."


End file.
